Tejashree Murugan
Lessons From Greek Statues

I absolutely detest metaphors
They’re like the stench of decayed flesh
that is being coated with powder
... No, don’t be an idiot, that’s a simile

Anyway, did you know that the statues of
Ancient Greece were not all smooth white marble, cold and unyielding?
No, they were actually painted in a myriad of colors
What we would now consider garish and overdone
Strikingly dark eyebrows, green and yellow robes, cherry-ripe cheeks
Imagine, a campy Athena!

It makes me wonder why we don’t agree with them on what beauty is
Why museums hose statues down
And scrub them clean of all flakes of color
Before even allowing us to lay eyes on them
Essentially dictating to us what we should and shouldn’t admire
Why?

Is it that we now prefer to be neutral and cold and aloof?
Above it all, in an unreachable world
Has all the warmth and color leached out of us as the centuries passed?
Leaving behind smooth marble exteriors
That have taken root
And seeped into our hearts and minds and kidneys

Or is it that we’ve become emotionless in order to be wise
Removing all distractions to see the essence of things
To be, all of us, perfect and ethereal and graceful
The great equalizer - the absence of color?

Are we being willfully ignorant of the color that exists?
Naked eyes don't need to be blind to not see microscopic particles
Are we using that as a shield, keeping us safe and our eyes rested?
Not having to strain and adjust to pops of the rainbow
After all, it’s not like marble gods can get goosebumps

Maybe, the reason we are now acknowledging our failure
Is because we have finally seen the light
I mean, the color; I don’t want to be a hypocrite
Maybe, we as a society, finally realized that rules are not rules at all
They can be broken, they can be changed
There can be something there that wasn’t there before
Is the answer, change?

Thank you, dear reader, for enduring all this drivel
But you... you see it now, don’t you?
Metaphors are the absolute worst.