We know only this: life is warm.
Adam Zagajewski
1. Metaphors & Possibilities
Let
me show you
one
small piece
of
this drifting world
where
Charon
trolls
for souls
and
Hermes
shifts
in
the mirror
behind
me.
Where
nothing happens
that hasn’t
Then
& Now.
This
long winter
and
dark spring
I’ve
found myself
begging
ancient
Hades
to
let the Girl
come
home.
I’ve
let the drifting world
drift
into
my own,
watching
Zeus
and Demeter
Heroes
and Nymphs
and…
2. The Girl
Kore
her
smile.
Persephone
cloud
reader
keeper
of secrets
innocent
and experienced
maiden
and mother both.
Persephone
dark
quiet
desirable
3. The Abduction
Hades
could stand
poised
on
a passing moment,
or flash
like
his brother’s lightning.
His
breath
could
be sweet,
or
it could be
wet
ash.
Likewise
his touch,
moonlight,
or
fire.
Hades
The
younger brother.
His
domain is
all
that follows this
life
of ours,
which
is to say –
nothing.
On
this day,
in
the world above,
the
Girl
stands
apart.
Her
friends play
at
making flowers grow.
She
wills life
into
narcissus
kneels
and
reaches out
to
its ruffled cup
and
lemon blush.
Hades,
the
incorporeal
touches
her back,
“Take
the flower,” he says.
She hears,
but
no sound
disturbs
the air.
She
hesitates,
and
feels a wave of insistence.
“Take
the flower.”
She
touches the blossom
and
a sky full of stars opens
beneath
her hand.
She
turns to look
at
the snatcher of souls
and
gasps at the
emptiness.
He
darkens his breath
eclipses
the sun
and
they’re gone.
It
was as if he dissolved,
but
she was torn apart.
He
felt no struggle,
but
she scratched
and
clawed.
There
was no sound,
though
she screamed.
Then
bone-cracking
cold
and
then
nothing.
4. The Mother
Demeter
original
earth mother
straddling
life
with
splayed
feet
barrel
legs
broad
hips
big
breasts
and
tangled
dreads.
Demeter
original
full
moon boogie gal
swaying
like
tall grass,
no,
not grass,
swaying
like
a forest.
Demeter
whose
barrel legs
squeezed
the breath
out
of Zeus
as
he rode her broad hips
like
an earthquake rides an prairie.
And,
oh, how she shook him
and
shook him loose
it
was no surprise
he
took their daughter next –
like
some dessert course,
then
passed her on
to
his anxious brother.
Demeter
who
loved Persephone
like
earth loves sky
didn’t
know that deal
was
about to go down.
On
that day
Demeter
thrashed
when
darkness came
and
her daughter did not.
Demeter
bellowed
when
morning came
and
her daughter did not.
Demeter
wept
full boulders
when
the nymphs came
and
her daughter did not
and
as she listened to their story of
dark
horses and owls
rising
wind and sudden night
her
breath turned to ice.
She
cursed Zeus
and
the
ground cracked
like
an ancient amphora.
Winter
spread like spilled wine
and
time stopped
as
anger and loss
froze
the earth.
Demeter
-
as
the nymphs
fell
asleep
they
heard
rock
crack
against
rock.
5. Hades, the Place
Some
things you may know:
It’s
where the sullen god makes his home.
The
dog is there, as is the boatman.
There
are rivers.
In
other ways you’ve been misinformed.
There’s
no punishment, only death.
There
are neither little devils with horns and tails poking and prodding,
nor
big-shot philosopher devils.
No
one is reigning rather than serving.
No
congress is plotting the ruin of creation.
The
place is:
A
landscape of negatives,
of
half-light, and the gray scale.
Bone-cracking
cold.
Shades
gliding
in
perpetual motion
across
huge distances
but
not a breeze
to
be felt.
Infinite
and dull.
Only
the Girl has substance.
6. The Palace
The
Dark Lord
had
mastered
a
pallet of smoke
and
brushed a drifting world
onto
the thin air of his kingdom.
He
prepared a place
that
seemed.
Persephone
saw her palace
floating
in
half light
beside
Lethe’s pond
its
walls shaded
by
Aspen and black poplar.
She
walked
the
conjured adamantine
of
obsidian paths
past
onyx pillars
and
climbed steps
of
darkest marble
to
the twin thrones
Evening
and Dusk.
Hades
and the Girl
watched
rich galaxies
drift
past windows
filigreed
with gold
and
then retired
to
a room called
Deepest
Night.
Persephone
entranced
allowed
the
Dark Lord
and
then
slept.
He
rose
and
walked
through
smoke
swirling
around
his feet.
He
knew
she
would be missed,
and
wondered how
he
would keep her.
7. The
Little Ice Age
(1300-1850 AD)
Volcanoes
erupted with such force, and threw so much ash into the air, the sun and moon
were shadowed for years.
The
Alpine “Le Bois Glacier” advanced at 360 feet a day – even in August. A Catholic Bishop exorcised the glacier to no
effect.
Ice
engulfed entire villages.
A
parasite came to life under the snow and infected the wheat crop. There was no wheat for years to come. Bread was made from tree bark. There were bread riots in the cities.
Wolves
roamed the tundra bringing down any blood warmth they came across.
Painters
developed a new genre of frozen scenes. Rembrandt, and Breughl were
practitioners.
Ground
in Southern England was frozen to over 3 feet in depth.
Thousands
of witches were burned in Germany, England, and France.
Mary
Shelley wrote, “Frankenstein.”
7. The Emissary
Things go wrong
and every family
needs
a fixer,
even in the hidden world,
perhaps,
especially,
in the hidden world.
Hermes
shifts
like light
here and there
as much an echo
as a presence.
Hermes
Deceiver and Dissembler
Counselor to the Counselors
Guardian of the Crossroads
Companion of the Dead
pays the boatman
and torments the dog
by shifting
in and out of view
until each of its heads
lunge
in a different direction
and it stands
tail high
three mouths snarling
straining against itself
frozen in place.
Even the boatman
who has seen everything
and laughs at nothing
is amused.
Hermes winks
and goes about the business
Zeus has ordained.
The Prince of Thieves
also
the Master of Dreams
what better place
to spin illusion
than the flat lands
where a dream
can hold as much
substance
as a palace.
8. Night
Hades sleeps.
In his dream
he and the Girl
take their places
hand in hand
while the shades
bow
before their sovereigns
and feast
on dark fruit.
Hermes
in his minstrel guise
plays his lyre
unwinds a song
of cold restrained
darkness lifted
and blessed light.
For the first time
the dark kingdom
is warm
and ancient Hades’
rest
has depth.
Persephone sleeps.
In her dream
she sits
with
Hermes
in his craftsman’s guise
and watches as he
uses his thumbnail
to carve her likeness
into a hard-shelled pomegranate.
He offers it to her.
As she cups her hands
to receive the gift
three
moist
seeds
hover and shine
before her.
She snatches them
each
from air
and eats.
When they awaken
Hades stands in the bone-cracking cold
and for the first time
shivers.
When they awaken
the boatman has been paid
and the Girl
wondering at the strange taste
on her tongue
lifts her trailing hand from the river
and touches
her lips.
9. The Return
Early
Spring.
Dalliance
complete
seeds
eaten
she returns
like
a ripple of silk.
A
breeze
the
size of
nothing
wraps
around itself
a
crocus
opens
its
infant
mouth
and
sighs.
Her
virgin friends
awaken
and
touch
each others
eyes
and faces
and
w h i
s p e r
she is here…
Demeter smiles,
the earth warms.
10. The Gathering
In
Seattle,
God’s
beautiful rain body
covers
us over,
and
our home
is
a boat
afloat
on
a sea of grass
and
flowers.
Lavatera
sprays
up
against
our kitchen window.
Dahlias
bob
in
the breeze.
Squash
blossoms
into
starfish.
And
day lilies
buoy
and beacon
against
the back fence.
In
this ocean
of
planted motion
myths
rise.
Wonder
is
luminous.
And
the story
gathers
itself
for
the re-telling.
Richard
Wells
May,
2008
snow crocus by robert gibson
narcissus photo from wag magazine
