The Encounter with the Goddess

    There is one story and one story only
    That will prove worth your telling

        —Robert Graves, “To Juan at the Winter Solstice

That one story worth your telling
Is the ancient tale of the encounter
With the goddess
Declares the poet Robert Graves 

You can come and see 
A sublime bronze avatar of the goddess
Standing in the harbor holding a book and lifting a torch
Among us her name is Liberty

She has many names and she is everywhere
You can also find her easily 
Inside yourself—
Don’t be afraid—

Just do whatever she tells you to do
 

Copyright © 2020 Alicia Ostriker. This poem was co-commissioned by the Academy of American Poets and the New York Philharmonic as part of the Project 19 initiative.