8. The Refugee...Underground

Leaving not the hint
of having once been -
they stand,
a denizen in rags
and borrowed clothes.
Free from harm,
malice and mother’s ire.
Grim delapidation
shady camp in a bolt hole:
Hades as a refuge.
An infamous estate.


It was this fanatical misanthropy, which soon led to flight and banishment. They were pursued even at college, as poisonous letters were sent to the authorities, attempting to tarnish reputation, seeking the Prince’s expulsion from the halls of Academe. The mother already had “form” for trying to discredit a niece and stepchildren. She had claimed that they were evil, and had ranted at length concerning her stiltted view of their vile inhumanity. Fortunately, the University authorities saw the hate filled missives for what they were: maniacal paranoid logorrhea. The Prince was emotionally supported to leave and take flight from the raging Fury, who seemed resolute, in seeking the essential destruction of the object of her hate.
The Prince was to soon lose all ties with the world they had known. Address books were trashed along with other personal items. Changes of domicile upon more removals, fleeing desperately from city to city, resulting in questionable company and drab dereliction...it was another world, an underworld. However for this Persephone, there was no grieving Demeter (Ceres).