The Beautifully Damned

to all the people i've ever loved.

my themis, what a young, innocent love we bore. distance matters not when our hearts are somehow attached despite the distance of an ocean between. the thought of betrayal didn't cross our minds, until it did. the loneliness at night didn't bother us, until it did. we fought our fight, but the gap between your beating heart and mine somehow blew out our perfect flame. this love was an extraordinary, unfinished, symphony thus was all too much for such a young flame. With the worry, frustration, and intensity of it all, you've taught me love is patient.

ares, you damned soul. you're a hurdling disaster waiting to mess something up. our love was one for the books. i was your aphrodite, with nothing but love and beauty to offer you, and you, only had violence and war raging within you. only now is when i've come around to realizing that much like aphrodite, i cheated on hephaestus as well, but he is also me. i've cheated myself in the hopes of fixing something i knew was too broken to mend. what else could i expect from one who has only known hatred? i pray you find strength within you to change and that someone blesses you with what you've blessed me with, acknowledgment of self-worth and dignity, at least enough to know when to walk away.

beloved ishtar, perhaps my first real love, yet also my enemy. you, my dear, are much like what you're known for, fertility, but everything that's birthed eventually dies. you appeared in my life at just the right time and in many ways have created new parts of me. it was quite majestic to escape reality with you, even if for just a bit. i thank you for creating hope in me, for showing me that there are people who are givers, such as myself, and that i'm capable of being loved. though it pains me to say it, two broken beings can't help rebuild one another.

zeus, the g-d of all g-ds, exposer of lies, and keeper of oaths. you rule above all else, and have rightfully claimed your seat on the throne. you've endured the darkness of hades and have been exposed to light of elysian, therefore are by far the wisest of them all. ares will loathe you when you reveal their inner flames, and ishtar will cry oceans in despair when you let them fly free. the multitude sees you as the almighty, yet don't know the hardships you've endured to attain the title. fear not of the whispers that will soon be exposed with truth. fear not of what an insignificant mortal has to say about someone as mighty as yourself, a g-d of Mount Olympus, the most worthy of all.

artwork by: Ana Garza

xo,

saffron