This piece was completed
at the end of a very long evening . . .
M____, who plays violin expertly
posed with her 'Baby'.
I traced her poem around her
The Amazons did this.
Her bow was her sword,
she carried her 'Child',
into Battle.
[That ancient race of female warriors the Amazons, it is written, took their children into battle with them. There is debate though as to the origin of the word Amazon. One explanation derives from the Greek 'a', without, and 'mazos', fr. A.Greek μαστός (mastós) or breast, because one breast either was covered by a sling for a quiver, OR, by a nursing child, OR, as it has been suggested by historians, was removed entirely as an expedient way to free up the drawing of the bowstring. This would explain why in 'memory', (history is cultural memory, or 'mammary'), the Amazons were re-membered as being one-breasted.
There are curious synchronistic associations with other usages, such as 'history is one-sided', 'half a memory', 'having lost one's memory', . . and so forth. The power of roots reverberate through the work of an eon of poets who listen for sounds, affecting usages everywhere. Etymologists will quibble, because the roots are different; 'memory' is latin derived. How about 'in memorium'! Just having fun with my memory banks. 'Newborn babes have no memories, but their Mommy has two mammaries!'
M____, in this painting, had no idea what she was portraying when she took the pose. But she took it. And when she spoke of her violin as her 'baby' I knew what she was referring to.]
