Josh Hanson
Unreconstructed
My child, only three,
understands the old stories.
I split the pomegranate
And tell her of Hades' lust
And Demeter's loss and search,
The river nymph's cry,
And I count the seeds, six
Blood red months
Which she spits, bitterly,
Into my open hand.
Later, she asks again
For the story of the girl
Who lost her mother.
Knowing that the seeds
Were bitter, and knowing,
Better than I, the way in
To that underworld.
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Josh Hanson is a graduate of the University of Montana Writing Program and currently lives in Humboldt County, California with his wife and two daughters. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Stirring, Three Candles, Red River Review, Slow Trains, Pegasus, and M.A.G..
