Damn the Seeds

Maggie Salerno '26

After Amy Winehouse From “Tears Dry On Their Own” (“All I can ever be to you is a darkness that we knew and this regret, I've got accustomed to.”)  

I was tricked, deceived, preyed upon, the Narcissus his accomplice. All

It is to him is a mere game. And I

Tell him exactly that. “Love is a losing game”. Can

I ever have what was once mine? Ever

Haunting dreams of what if. What would be

If I never succumbed to those six seeds. To

Eat them was to be chained. Chained to you,

Chained to death, chained to grief, for aion. Is 

It not sickening? But oh, those six months of freedom. A

Breath of fresh air I thought would never come. Darkness

Gone, light anew. My mothers embrace, that

Which I’ve missed! Barley’s, wheats, Irises, Larkspurs. We

Sniff, laugh, cry, love. With her I’m me again. Yet I knew,

Knew that he waits. Waits in the dark and 

eerie shadows. How can I ever truly be happy? This

Fate! Damn it! Damn the Moirai, for I know even they must regret

What they’ve spun when they see what I’ve

Been forced into. Once naive words, “I got

To get out”, but sadly I’m accustomed

To this dreadful exchange now. For that's all it is to

Him. Not love. A game.

Artist Note:

In my poem, “Damn the Seeds” I tried the golden shovel poem in which I used lyrics from Amy Whinehouse’s song “Tears Dry On Their Own”. My poem is recounting the famous Greek myth of Persephone and Hades from her perspective. There are many takes and narratives on this poem yet I chose to play into the one that this arrangement was against her will and that she never really loved Hades. I chose to write about this topic as mythology is something I love and this myth is my absolute favorite. I specifically chose the lyrics “All I can ever be to you is a darkness that we knew and this regret, I've got accustomed to” as I envisioned these lyrics being Hades' response to Persephone in this poem. I chose these lyrics to show that Hades does really love Persephone and because of this regrets the “Darkness” that he’s created by abducting her. He’s come to terms with the hate she has for him, growing "accustomed" to it.