Persephone

A poem

Persephone - A Poem

I'm running through a field of daffodils;
a point in time divided by a line
struck through my name by Olympian pen.
The earth opened up just after. But then,
back then, before fate called, the world was mine,
I drank its wine, and dreamed the dreams age kills.
Those dreams are gone. Hell snatched me from that field.
I'm down below among the deadly bores.
If I'd foreseen my future double life -
half the year as daughter, then some god's wife -
I might have left the daffodils for shores
unknown. A place where happiness has yield.
My early years with Hades taught me this.
It isn't true that ignorance is bliss.

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I used to have an autoimmune condition that flared up seasonally before settling into a chronic state. It started when I was nineteen. It really felt like being abducted to the underworld. Fortunately my health improved a lot some years ago.

However, this seasonal element and a book I came across about Persephone first got me interested in this myth. Years later, I had a few years of SAD back to back. So I started a prose piece then about a stained glass artist going down into the underworld for a time every year, but didn’t finish it because the SAD went away! However, I’m hoping to finish it now I’m posting to Substack.

In the meantime, I thought I’d post this poem. I once sent it to a poetry magazine who rejected it on the basis that Persephone was happy with Hades. However, I thought it was worth exploring it from a different perspective since she was abducted against her will, and pretty much pulled between two older people - her mother and Hades. I have only changed a couple of words in the version above. Instead of ‘Cold loveless years’ the new version has ‘My early years’.

Image above is Narcissus by one of my favourite artists: JW Waterhouse.

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Otherwise, a few days ago I reposted a review of Loreena McKennitt’s 1997 album The Book of Secrets to my fiction SS. It was on my developmental editing SS, but that wasn’t really the right place for it. I’ll be moving some other things over in time, but I won’t necessarily send them out by email. I’ve created a review section for this other material. I feel that this album, which I find inspirational for writing, definitely fits more with the kind of fiction and poetry I write.

One more thing - hello to all the new subscribers! I’ve been busy with making changes to my editing site and other stuff, so I need to make time to catch up with everyone. Hope you’re all well!