Aphrodite's Lament

Aphrodite’s Lament

In ancient Grecian lore, she weeps

as her lover, Adonis, enters the underworld.

It is autumn and every year the same sorrow

envelopes her. Aphrodite’s tears fall

in small blood-drops, sway on stems so slender

you want to warn the wind for which they are named.

Anemones—commonly called windflowers,

cherished for their timing, blooming not

in spring when competition would be fierce

but after spent perennials have gone to sleep

—Aphrodite's tears in Greek mythology

float silvery pink, delicate above dying ferns

flutter away with the last sweep

of Monarchs and white lace moths

wave farewell to her son and lover, Adonis.

She mourns his six-month departure

waits for his promised reappearance

when spring and summer warmth returns

as dormancy draws its final draft

and dreaded winter waits to take its post.

Bernadine Lortis

Born in rural Minnesota, I have lived in Mpls./St. Paul for nearly 60 years, currently wintering in San Miguel de Allende , MX. I've written secretly and sporadically for years but began prioritizing and submitting in 2016 when family responsibilities decreased. Since then, I've had fiction, creative nonfiction, flash fiction and poetry published in the following: Ariel Chart, Lost Sparrow Press, Mused: bellaonline, Cosmo Funnel, Every Writers' Resource, Miller's Pond, Oasis Journal, Poetry Super Highway, The Afterlife of Discarded Objects, Stirring: sundress press, Silver Birch Press: word press; Mothers Always Write, Persimmon Tree, Martin Lake Poetry; Flash Fiction for Flash Memory and included in A Poet-Artist Collaboration and Women Speak (Portraits, Poetry and Prose of the Feminine Experience) and as one of five poets in chapbook, "Fridays at Ten" in San Miguel de Allende.