Molly Lazer

Persephone

       He cuts. Juice spills over the board, and the pomegranate yields secrets.

       Mother doesn't know about the ground that devoured you. You relished the newness of dirt, black, worms. Mother doesn't know this.

       An earthworm drips off your chin onto the floor. You ease it under the table with your shoe.

       He fills a bowl with water, lowers half of the pomegranate in, breaks again. Seeds sink, pulp rises. He wipes hand against shirt, leaving a ruddy swath.

       It was not an apple, but a pomegranate that made Eve and Adam know nakedness. You feel no shame now. Mother has probably alerted the police. There will be detectives. Missing persons reports.

       You smell acid as he scoops flesh from the bowl. Your eyes roam over its cratered surface. A stubborn seed remains stuck in its moorings. You free it with one finger.

       You think about warnings not to eat Faerie food, lest you remain trapped forever.

       He smiles.

       You place a pomegranate seed on your tongue. It is delicious.

Molly Lazer is a MFA candidate in Creative Writing at Rosemont College. A former editor at Marvel Comics, she currently teaches high school outside of Philadelphia. Her work has appeared in Gingerbread House, Rose Red Review, The Conium Review Online, Medical Literary Messenger, and is forthcoming in Mirror Dance.