Creator of Pentacles

Small Town Persephone
by Kelly Canaday

She’s a statue
forged back alley of a small town
with vines growing in the cracks, only
noticed through its reflection in
boutique windows,
the Guardian of

milkweed, hibiscus, and moringa
filling them up with what they need to leave

This is her measure of success—no coins,
only everlasting fruit sold roadside
that renews itself every time
it is snubbed, for it knows Loss
is joy wearing a cloak of ego,
a black hole wrapped in an event horizon

A puppet-master, she is green as a finger
tolerating a fake wedding ring,
a pink-rubied sea on the verge of collapse,
diving into her own worthiness
renewing at the source, instead of lunging
at movement like a chained dog

She hides the breakthrough
until you’re ready and brings her
children together like a valley of scars

Kelly Canaday (she/her) is currently looking for someone to rule the underworld with.