Persephone pulls the dying light
behind her like a sickly ember
her skin forgets sunlight
fingers stretch
she tastes the cold air
and it tastes like him
pomegranates split open
teeth sunk into ruby-red gems
the juice spills along her wrists
a map she cannot read
blood or fruit or both
no difference
he is everywhere
the air heaves like lungs in a cave
her hair tangles with coal
her ribs echo with frost
a frozen heart
every heartbeat
a coffin nailed shut
the seasons fracture
spring burns in her throat
winter crawls under her skin
she eats his darkness
and feels the hunger of her own
in mirrors of obsidian
her eyes bleed garnet
his hands are everywhere
on the small of her back
on the space between vertebrae
on her collarbone
on the hollow of her wrist
all the places she forgot
she could feel
she grows slowly in the dark
tendrils curling around her
and pomegranate seeds
and winter’s teeth
and a love that eats her whole
both cage and cure
leaving her
beautiful
and broken