My king,
I’ve slept in hell with you
for centuries
thinking if I stayed
curled around your body
like a shield
the butterflies
in my hair
would whisper to you
making you long
for spring’s winged things
flight
light
I thought the stars
in my eyes
would swirl
into constellations
omens you might read
maps out of the underworld.
Light
years
later
I hear
my Mother calling for me
saying it is time for spring,
but you still storm through these
sin singed halls
craving pomegranate seeds
and gold
barely seeing me.
Hades
Hades
Hades
how I love that scar on your chin
the dent in your throat
the way your voice quavers
when you forget to lie,
but I want none of your greed.
Your pomegranate seed
made me sick
to death
until the light in my eyes
faded, became
hell’s flames.
Centuries
centuries
centuries
and still, my Mother calls to me
Persephone
Persephone
Persephone
and I miss her.
I want wings.
wind
sea
Perhaps you must see
hell
hell
hell
with no hint of heaven
to understand
exactly what
a god gives
when he sells his soul
trades love and freedom
for seeds of greed
so, beloved one,
tonight, I rode the stars
in my eyes
to my Mother.
Precious
broken
one,
I knew
you would miss me
so I tore from my belly
the seeds I ate in hell
one at a time,
never mind the pain,
scattering them over
the war torn terrain
as I flew
through Death’s
open mouth,
paying Charon
the last of the seeds
for a ride across
the River Styx
a
ferry
The price for keeping
my soul was
everything
everything
I’m free. Follow me. My trail
of seeds glows behind me.
one
two
three
Hades, do not touch them. You cannot leave hell
holding her prizes in your belly.
four
five
six
The streets of hell
are paved with gold.
seven
for the
ferry
To be reborn a god
and not a death king
Hades,
marry
and enter into
my Mother’s sacred spring
hungry,
humble
naked.
Burlesque Press 