Myth says that once upon a time, even before the birth of time itself, the Cyclopes Polyphemus saw Galatea, the nymph and fell in love with her.
He was large and ugly, while she was a perfect beauty. No matter how much he loved Galatea and no matter what he sacrificed for her, she did not accept his love. Finally, doomed and cursed, Polyphemus threw rocks at Galatea and her lover. As a punishment, he was transformed into a river and flowed amongst the wild mountains, alone and miserable forever. This is the final dialogue between the miserable and desperate Polyphemus and the idealistic Galatea.
‘Am I good enough for you?’
he asks with a shadow of doubt,
lining his single dark eye
‘No, I am afraid not…’
she smiles at him coldly,
untouched by his bitter misery
‘No matter, how hard you try,
you scream or you cry
No matter how long you try,
you bleed and you die
You’ll never be
good enough for me
No matter, how high you fly,
kiss the earth or reach the sky
No matter how may you pry,
you may shout or you may sigh
You’ll never be
good enough for me’
‘But what if I change?’
he pleads with eyes filled with
all the sadness in the world
‘No, still a big fat no’
she replies adamantly,
resolve gleaming in her blue eyes
‘Even if you change,
or you may evolve
Even if you become godly
and God himself absolves
You’ll never be
good enough for me
Even if you explode,
or you may dissolve
Even if you become static
or you may even revolve
You’ll never be
good enough for me’
‘And why is that so?’
looking down he asks,
dejection underlining his whisper
‘Well that’s a good question’
she looks at him with pity,
a silent rage simmering
‘You don’t matter
and you don’t matter at all
Whatever you may do
either very big or just small
Whatever you do is useless;
and you will always fall
You may bang your head
against a high stone wall
You may bloody your fists;
ou may stand or may even crawl
Whatever you do is useless;
and you will always fall’
