persephone

i carry petals beneath my skin / one
for each time he made me weep / they
glisten with decay and melt away as a part of me / i
feel the fragments shift when he leaves / for
weeks at a time i sit lonely in fields / and
watch him with a new bride / they
travel seas and glittering streets / streets
i will never get to see / new
daughters reach for his hands / new
homes wrap their walls around him / and
i keep his petals next to my ribs / their
webbed veins stretching, breaking / purpling
against brittle white bone / because
with each lung inhale / distance
blossoms between us / like
second generation flowers / from
the seeds of my poisoned petals / the
south makes the temperature change / my
seasonal depression swings / but
i never seem to be as happy as i once was / and
flowers never grow in freezing weather / so
i give them all away as he leaves / for
a warmer sky to breathe beneath / and
wonder if he misses the petals i kept / for
myself to carry / a
lovely burden, sweet / and
delicate like the first bite / of
ripe, sticky fruit / but
a wound in my side / all
the same /