by Rosana Garcia

Demeter weeps, for the week will bring her daughter’s
annual abduction. Persephone shaves her legs and gets
her hair done. She’s returning to her husband next
Thursday and all must be in place. She no longer wishes
for her mother underground with her, no longer cries
as Mabon approaches, no longer shakes in fear, thinking
of her husband in her bed, no longer treasures chastity.
She wants his skin beneath her, wants him inside her.
He has sent messages to her through the worms
and snails, speaking of binding her in play reminiscent
of their first night, centuries past. Every woman
tried to make her scared of a man’s aggression, but
they simply did not know how to handle theirs.

(c) 2006 understar productions and Rosana Garcia