BEFORE AND AFTER LIFE
PLOT POINT: Persephone embraces the power of her new role as Queen of the Underworld and guide to the souls of the dead.
See, I’ve come to the centre now
Here I usher the souls that pass
Over the threshold go
Over the threshold go
There to become the seed
Bidding the flower to grow
All life into the dark goes
Into the womb, the tomb
Into the hunger
Into the teeth falls
Into the mouth crawls
Into the cavern called
Into the centre
Life feeds, swallows its own tail
Filling its belly full,
Full of its children
All life into the dark goes
Into the womb, the tomb
Into the hunger
Birth am I
And Death am I
And woman am I
I am before and after Life
Deep in the Earth
A death and a birth
A quickening flame
That whispered my name
I honoured the call
Taking the throne
I wasn’t alone
A spark of desire
Had kindled my fire
And freed me
Birth am I
And Death am I
And woman am I
I am before and after Life
Something below
I wanted to know
Eager to feed
I swallowed the seed
And now that I’m fed
I am alive, alive
With all this glorious red!