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Persephone to Demeter
You taught me to be good.
You loved my beauty
And the spirited way I embraced life,
Always questioning, but
Safe within your world.
There was no darkness;
The night terrors could never take hold,
With you there to whisper to me,
And gently stroke my cheek.
Then Hades came.
I wasn't warned.
Like a wind he stormed through every passage;
No fastening could keep him out.
I was devastated and forgot everything,
Tasting only the sweetness and bitterness
Of the fruit he gave me,
Which somehow seemed familiar
And reminded me of you.
Now a thing is growing in me
That I dread:
My dreams replaced by the cold
Certainty of life alone;
A new child in me.
Demeter,
You are angry with me for leaving,
And there is winter in your eyes.
May we not walk together
Like old friends, new-found,
Watching youth and age,
As they meet and separate
Through the long summer?
One day I'll have to lay you in the ground
And then I'll weep
Till all the rivers run into the sea
Full of my love for you, and yours for me.
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