Persephone Descent

Persephone Descent
I am Persephone, wild and beguiled.
I summer a princess, but winter in hell.
My air holds the sunlight,
My eyes dark with midnight,
Of springtime I sing but of sepulcher smell.

At gravity's bid, I descend without end.
I freeze and then shatter in Hades' embrace.
He sucks and he claws me,
And nothing will thaw me,
Debased with his black frost, resigned to disgrace.

Dawn, I awaken in shudders and flutters.
My true lover welcomes me, anguish concealed.
The ice on my heart cracks,
But my womb, it roils black,
I carry my shame, as of yet unrevealed.

Insidious spawn, abiding inside,
A parasite seedling of underworld sown.
Burdening my lightness,
And suckling my brightness,
Poisoning me where exuberance once shone.

I am Persephone, mistress and listless,
Fettered, possessed for a season each year.
Look away from me
Lest you become me
For sharing these shackles is my greatest fear.