Demeter, upon accepting what is

©Cameron Altaras

Narcissus enraptured my daughter

Made her vulnerable to darkness

She is the creator of her own redemption

As Queen of the Underworld

She nurtures the souls

Of the dead

There is a part of her I can

Vaguely hear

Perhaps glimpse

Barely touch

Never completely understand

She heals her soul

As she nourishes the souls

Of the dead

This poem is published in Cameron Altaras and Sharla Nafziger, Confronting the Patterns that Silence Us (Seattle, WA: G Scott Works, 2023), 75; and in Claire Dorey, Pat Daly and Trista Hendren, eds., Wounded Feminine: Grieving with Goddess (Norway: Girl God Books, 2024), 179.