The Myth of Talent, by Gabriella Bedetti

The Birth of Athena, by artist known as the Phrynos Potter (Greece), around 564 B.C.E.

The Myth of Talent

Would you ask a violinist “how much do you practice?”
or a ballerina about her grueling daily dance routine?
Everybody writes. The poet writes like she prays, with passion.

Athena emerged fully-grown from the head of Zeus.
She saw everything and knew everything.
To be born, the writer enters a state of curiosity,

waiting for the moment when
the poem opens up and tells her
what it wants to be about.

No thrills of discovery for the goddess.
Miles Davis said, my future
starts when I wake up every morning.

Gabriella Bedetti
​
Gaby is the American translator of Henri Meschonnic’s work, a contributor to Lexington’s poetry blog (http://lexpomo.com/) and a teacher at Eastern Kentucky University. While a grad student in Comp Lit, she co-founded the University of Iowa Museum of Art Bulletin. Her publications include a photo essay in Italian Americana: Cultural and Historical Review, a book review in Poet Lore, photos in Ground Fresh Thursday, and an article on rhythm as historicity in New Literary History. Her poem "Singing in the Pool" is forthcoming in The Voices Project.