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.