Persephone
PoetryIftekhar Ahmed
Greek Goddess of Spring and ruler of the underworld, Persephone, was kidnapped by Hades, the god of the dead, and forced to wed him against her will. She later remained with him, but she spent six months of the year on Earth and six months in the underworld, depending on the narrative. We share fall and winter while she is in the underworld and spring and summer when she is on the surface. Zeus, her father and the Sky God and King of Olympus, arranged the above to reconcile Demeter, the Goddess of Agriculture, and Hades.
Oh! Persephone, today I ask,
What do you want to be?
Want to choose pleasant spring,
Or Queen of underworld thing?
If you choose the underworld throne,
Then deny all your claim upon us,
Deny those beautiful scented flowers,
So no lover can pluck them for 'Her',
Deny those young green leaves,
So none ever see the colour green.
If you choose to be queen of Hades,
Then let the Horai rule over us,
Let the winter turn everything grey,
Let the rains flood every Hamlet,
Let the Summer burn entire hay,
And autumn will make fall every leaf.
But if you choose the spring crown,
Then break your Netherworldly shackles,
Then prison those horrible Horais,
So there's no other season but spring,
Then fill this world with infinite colours,
So this Quadrachromic world scares none.
But if you leave underworld horrific,
Then divorce deathly Hades for good,
And embrace the role of spring's Angel,
So, that your brightness, whole world sees,
Let bloom, roses, daisies and daffodils,
So, poets see emotions of your every shade.
Iftekhar Ahmed
If you ask a friend of Iftekar’s to describe him, the first word that will helplessly tumble out of their mouth is ‘poet’. The soft-spoken poet, who radiates positive vibes and wields excellent oratory skills, Iftekhar, is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering at IIT Tirupati. He is also a well-known badminton player who spends his spare time immersed in books and movies.