The Rape of Proserpina

Figura serpentinata. Sure, it’s twisted
as all such stories are, but still
it’s moving, in a way.

They’re gods. What can you say?
Capricious, stony, an abyssal will
that cannot ever be resisted?

Granted. We build the deities we need,
and they’re as full of brute
impulses as we are. There’s no sense

to anything otherwise. And really, since
we know she’s going to eat the stupid fruit,
seed by dark garnet seed,

where’s the fault here? It’s more than no
means no, war of wills. She can twist in his grip forever;
it’s …