—after Helen Lundeberg’s painting “Persephone Returns”
She stands alone, surrounded by a vast
apocalyptic landscape, a few dead trees
and two crumbling castles in the lowered
distant distance. Closer, the landscape
is split open; a scene of an other, under-
world, can be seen. Her yellow dress falls
almost to her feet. Her head, wrapped in
a long scarf, twisted beneath her chin,
draped over her shoulder. She holds
a fruited flowered wreath in her hand.
She is staring straight ahead, no doubt
remembering what she cannot forget.
Behind her is another mountain, topped
with a whitened castle, backlighted by
faint fading light. All the old myths are
out of date; we make our own choices,
but Persephone will continue to patrol the
borders of these precipices like a ghostly
presence we all know. We must restore
her story. We must let her silence speak.