Greek Chrysanthemums
She’d caught his attention at a football game
Somehow, from the back of the stands
And he stared without shame.
She liked him too
And he was happy like he’d never been
He’d begun to think to her, ‘I can’t do this without you.’
Time passed
She began to break his shell and pull out strands
She found all of the things that were uniquely him, to the last.
She began to change;
To become a person nobody recognised or had seen.
He was accused of coercing her, manipulating her, he was to blame.
Nobody stopped to consider that it was her choice
That this was who she was, who she wanted to be.
Nobody wanted to hear what she thought with her voice.
Her parents worried,
Her friends left,
But he stayed, not in any hurry.
She found and created highs like never before, but he was a constant
In the tumultuous sea.
Her body and mind were decayed.
Her parents, concerned as always, sent her away.
She found herself and became healthy, but felt a sense of emptiness.
When she was allowed out, he was there, with a bouquet and a promise to stay.
She found herself with him again,
And happiness without the drugs and alcohol.
He loved her, with every cell, every organ, every vein.
They were Hades and Persephone,
Pluto and Kore,
Death and Life.