Ceres
She leapt out of the classical heavens of yore,
from the tumbling asteroidal chaos
of creation, spawned by Zeus;
immemorial bearer of fruitfulness.
She leapt from the dusty storage
of my forbears,
striding across the walls of home,
telling her story and of her loss.
Mother of abducted daughters
and banisher of harvests,
coming alive in potent moments
with the fury or benevolence
and of righteous rage.
She stalks the homes of Everyman
her womanliness, beyond gender
all-embracing.
In her rites of passage
she camps in allsorts of houses,
huts, palaces,
and puts down roots, bides time
until it is time to rise up, declare herself:
I am She - Ishtar, Innana, Isis;
Gaia, Rhea, Tara;
Demeter, Queen of the Equinox
- of agriculture, vegetation and the cycles of nurturance, dormancy,
relinquishment and renewal.
Retributive devastator;
prototype of fertility
-the poppy & grain, sickle & plough.
My children may go awol
and reap bitter rewards.
Continuity is mine.
Sept