THE WARRIOR MAIDENS' CHALLENGE

.
The men sat waiting,
Wondering if they would come,
Their talk rising and falling
In a low dull murmuring hum.

Suddenly at the appointed hour,
As if from nowhere,
The maidens appeared
Over the brow of the hill,
And stood,
Statuesque and still,
Tall and slim,
Their firm bodies
Lit from within
By the flames of their exuberant vitality;
Radiant with power,
They looked at the men below:

Easily they raised their weapons high,
Silhouetted against the sky,
Bare limbs gleaming,
Yearning for the thrill of combat,
Their whole lives culminating in this hour.

Silent and motionless,
They seemed to the men
Even taller and stronger,
Their perfect bodies
Glowing in the sun.

And even as the men marvelled
At the maidens' strength and beauty
The girls began to dance,
Lithe, loose-limbed and free,
Whirling and stamping their feet,
Drumming the earth
With a vibrant hypnotic beat,
Disciplined and fierce;

Their taut bodies
Throbbed with energy,
Which surged through their being
And filled the men with fear:

The dancing slowed to a rhythmic swaying
From foot to foot and side to side,
And as they swayed they began a chant
Which resounded far and near,
Overwhelming the bewildered men,
Who had neither heard nor seen
Anything like this before.

All at once the maidens stopped
And were still,
Breathing deeply,
And with every breath
Gathering strength,
The infinite vigour of the universe
Flooding through them;

The men's minds groped to understand,
Tumultuous thoughts spinning inside their heads.

Abruptly the maidens started down the slope
And swept towards the men,
Leaping and swooping
Like falcons in flight,
Eager for the fight,
The flames of life burning ever brighter,
Certain of their invincibility.

The men quailed
And lost all hope,
Seeing that they would lose
And could only choose
To flee or die;

Overcome by dread
Their muttering ceased:
Dropping their weapons on to the ground
They turned and fled.

The maidens did not pursue them,
But stood and shouted in triumph,
And sang a new exultant refrain,
Which rose and fell
Echoing around the hills
And across the plain
And back again,
Swirling around the men as they ran:
The whole of life was the girls' domain.

Neither the men
Nor they
Would ever forget
This day.

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The poem above is based on an actual incident.