By Elizabeth Rowland
darling lamb, they call, her stone fingers clasped
round a dagger, sharp and cold.
Her chest heaves,
the weight of his palms
still upon her breast.
Chin tucked under, she dares not bare
her throat to the wolf’s hunger.
Her glittering white form curled upon her deathbed.
I watch your toes curl, darling lamb.
I watch your forever still hand tremble around an unyielding blade.
Do you know what your blood will do, darling lamb?
Blood crowns the king.
Blood builds the empire.
Your wound a mouth
from which Rome itself howls awake.
In the ashes,
a lyre stutters.
Yet you know not,
Lucretia.
Take your blade and
plunge into your heart.
We will watch your marble eyes
search.
We will watch your marble hands
grasp.
We will watch
you,
sweet martyr of mine.
Author Note:
Lucretia, is an ekphrastic response to Ginotti’s nineteenth-century sculpture of the same name (QAGOMA, 2025), examining how classical depictions of female suffering aestheticise violence.
Reference:
Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA). (2025). Lucretia (19th century) by Giacomo Ginotti [Object record]. https://collection.qagoma.qld.gov.au/objects/12097
