To the Memory of My Mom, Beverly Ann Smith: Persephone

Persephone

To my delight and too my pain,

I hear her laughter echo near;

Though muffled by the veil of time, 

It comes obscured, yet still I hear. 

The chords are faint, yet still resound, 

And overwhelm my listless state, 

Til all at once my heart gives way 

To joy and grief that will not wait. 

Oh would that I could reach my hand 

Through that thick darkness we call death, 

And draw her out to me again, 

Restoring laughter and her breath.

But mortals may not thus retrieve

The ones we’ve lost, who’ve gone before, 

And so, to hear her laughter clear, 

I’ll have to pass through Hades’ door.

—jwm

Of the Poem Stanza Type: Quatrain Meter: Eight lines per stanza (i.e. tetrameter) 

Rhyme Scheme: xaxa xbxb xcxc xdxd (where ‘x’ represents unrhymed lines) 

Composition: April – May 2016  In Greek mythology Persephone is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. Demeter loved Persephone so much and cared for her innocence that she was exceedingly protective of her and utterly opposed to allowing her into marriage, believing any possible suitors to be unworthy of her. Hades, who loved Persephone, was well aware that Demeter would certainly deny him her hand.  One day, as Persephone was gathering flowers in the meadows of Enna, a jagged fissure ripped the earth wide open and Hades emerged out of the twisting and rumbling. Seizing Persephone, Hades descended with her instantly into the Underworld—the fissure closing behind them. The event occurred so quickly that even those who were gathering flowers nearby did not notice Persephone was missing.  Demeter was beside herself and writhed in despair upon the discovery of Persephone’s abduction. Crippled by agony, Demeter neglected her supervision as goddess of fertility and harvest and the earth began to reel in degeneration- crops began to fail, fruits and all manner of nourishment began to dry up and wither away, people and animals began to perish beneath the growing famine, along with countless other miseries. Hearing the cries below Mount Olympus, Zeus confronts Hades and persuades him to release Persephone from his bonds, but not before Hades tricks her into tasting a few pomegranate seeds—fruit of the Underworld, of which those who partake are filled with an overwhelming desire to stay in the Underworld.  Restored to her relieved mother, Persephone expresses a desire to return to Hades and this, of course, infuriates Demeter. Demeter threatens to let the earth perish if Persephone leaves her side. A compromise was ultimately made: Persephone is permitted to spend a given duration with Hades below, and a given duration with Demeter above.  It is said that for this reason, when Persephone abides with Hades, autumn strips trees bare and winter ravages the land—this as a result of Demeter’s indignation; and that when Persephone is with Demeter, spring’s vitality returns and summer feeds the earth with warmth and light.  That is one way of telling Persephone’s story. Inasmuch as the poem Persephone is concerned, I wanted to imagine the agony and sorrow Demeter felt upon the discovery of Persephone’s abduction by Hades (represented by death in the poem) and imagine beyond the crippling grief the inexplicable joy she must have felt upon being reunited with her daughter.  Persephone is dedicated to the memory of my mom, Beverly Ann Smith, who died October 3rd, 2015. Like Demeter, my heart perpetually writhes in crippling pain at her departure. Memories of her sustain me from despair: her angel-voice, her beautiful face, her unique and punctuated laughter, her love for me. Unlike Demeter, however, I am unable to call her back from the other side of that dark veil, and so my inexplicable joy awaits me on the other side, where I will see her again.

To the memory of my mom ...