longing for persephone by S.M. Foran
the perennial
sorrow of demeter
is marked each year
by the dogmatic death
of the garden.
what goes un-
seen, how-
ever, is the
bowing crown of hades,
proud chin pressed tightly
against the black-robed chest,
and noticed only by
the few attendant shades
who gather round
and fear
lest the rustling breath
of their steps
somehow disturb his reverie
and dispel
the lingering scent
of honey-sweet
pomegranate.
Bio
S.M. Foran has a Master of Arts in English and a Ph.D. in Mythological Studies and has been teaching literature and creative writing for almost thirty years. He currently works at Montreat College in North Carolina and lives in Asheville with his wife and two sons. He has had poems and short stories appear in a wide variety of literary publications, including Arboreal Literary Magazine, Euphony Journal, Metonym, Between, and Portfolio North, and is also the author of a collection of short stories, Bite of the Bacchae and Other Stories, and a collection of poems, recently wise. His most recent publication is a poetry chapbook entitled a reader's miscellany (Bottlecap Press, 2024).
Author's note
This poem is part of a new collection I am working on that centers on the underworld as portrayed in various world mythologies. With "longing for persephone," I chose to consider the story from a new perspective. Traditionally, the focus is on Demeter's sorrow at losing her daughter. Without denying the impact of this loss, I wanted to explore how separation from Persephone might conversely affect her husband Hades.
