Persephone Literary Magazine - Volume I - July 2024 - Dark Issue

Welcome to interactive presentation, created with Publuu. Enjoy the reading!

P E R S E P H O N E

LITERARY MAGAZINE

Volume I

July 2024

Issue No. 2

At Persephone Literary Magazine, we strive to create a safe and

inclusive space for all readers and contributors. However, due to

the nature of the creative content we publish, some pieces may

contain themes or elements that could be distressing or triggering.

We encourage our readers to prioritize their mental health and

well-being. If you encounter content that you find triggering or

distressing, please take care of yourself and seek support if needed.

Thank you for being a part of our literary community.

Content Warning

P E R S E P H O N E

LITERARY MAGAZINE

POETRY

Visit

PERSEPHONELITERARY.COM

@PERSEPHONELITERARYMAGAZINE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOUNDER’S POEM - “UNDERWORLD”

ABOUT THE FOUNDER

Calliope

Lee Zumpe

Paris Rosemont

Persephone pines for Stockholm

Testamentum

Jaylee Marchese

Ghost Rider

Barbara Meier

The Commonalities Between Broken Hearts and Haunted Houses

Jemma Harper

Nepenthe

Ashley Malecha

Pygmalion

Nathan DeBar

Casualty of Hunter’s Moon

Sofia Navarro-Gonzalez

moon song

Deniz Ibrahimzade

At Mowich Lake

Shaila Childers

Epiphany

It’s Just a World

Jezabel Castillo

Beate Sigriddaughter

William Doreski

Migraine

The Blue of the Blue

Eryn Hiscock

Time Melts

Nolo Segundo

Elizabeth Schwartz

Seven Sorrows

Kai White

eat me, drink me

P E R S E P H O N E

LITERARY MAGAZINE

Visit

PERSEPHONELITERARY.COM

@PERSEPHONELITERARYMAGAZINE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SHORT STORIES

Counterbalance

Fiction

Sara Szatmary

Putrid Smell of Lavender

Brando Smith

The Sight of Sound

Kevin Brown

Missing Pieces

Charlotte Leinbach

Lucifer and Eve Have a Conversation in New Eden

Regina Nagan

After Orpheus

Catherine Broadwall

Philosopher of the Underworld

Kathleen O'Connell

Birdcage

Jamie Camarena

FOUNDING EDITOR

SHORT STORIES EDITOR

Allyson Nichols

Isabel Brinegar

GRAPHIC DESIGN ADVISOR

Angela Fach

FOUNDING

EDITOR

Allyson Nichols

The dynamic founder and editor of

Persephone Literary Magazine, Allyson

has always been captivated by

storytelling. Armed with a Bachelor of

Science in Journalism from Kent State

University, where she minored in creative

writing, she has been crafting poetry and

fiction since her early years. A voracious

reader, Allyson was already diving into

large chapter books by the 2nd grade,

eventually even reading three books in

one day by the time she hit age 11. Her

literary journey reached a milestone with

the publication of her poem "Bubblegum"

in Kent State's Luna Negra Literary

Magazine. Driven by a passion to amplify

diverse voices, she created Persephone

Literary Magazine as a vibrant platform

for creatives to share their stories. Beyond

her love for literature, Allyson enjoys

spending time at home with her two

kitties, Evie and Stormy, and loves

exploring new film and television releases

with her close friends and family.

Photography Credit: AF Photography

PERSEPHONE LITERARY MAGAZINE

ABOUT THE FOUNDER

PERSEPHONE LITERARY MAGAZINE

FOUNDER’S POEM

Did I mean so little to you

that the minute the succubus

lured you to the warmth

in between her legs,

any memory of me resting in your arms

blurred at the touch of her lips?

Where is my titan

who vowed to slay the beasts

that built the stone wall between us?

Is he hypnotized

by the promise of the serpent?

Has he turned to dust within you -

leaving behind nothing but a shell?

If Aphrodite knew of the love

she birthed into my heart,

she willingly sentenced it

to Hades’ wrath

alongside your soul,

and left me to carry its rot

within my body.

I hear it scream to me now,

“There’s nothing left to save us.”

N D

E R

W O

R L D

Allyson Nichols, Founding Editor

Calliope

PERSEPHONE LITERARY MAGAZINE

POETRY

Lee Zumpe

Calliope crouching and seething,

breathing vitality

into blood ink.

Fountain pen gliding and drooling,

tracing histories

into poetry.

Ancient heroes sleeping and dreaming,

flowering bones

into flesh.

She bunkers down for the long night ahead, when you—

like the sun swallowed by shadow—slink

into your neutered nether-land, whilst she

is kept company by a maddening

metronome, chipping away at the liminal

lining of her limestone skull

like an icepick.

Somewhere between attempting to trap

thoughts of you in a vac-sealed sous-vide sac submerged

in tepid water till the gristly sinews of her fixation

deliquesce—yes, somewhere between that

and the tik tok lobotomy, she drifts

into tempestuous seascapes.

The rowboat of her consciousness unmoored,

she is swept into the gaping mouth of an untamed

ocean, where sea serpents and sirens seduce

and terrify. She sinks

deep—and deeper still, until

dawn glows butterscotch mellow

on the petal-soft lids of her slumbering irises.

Clamshells languidly yawn and her feathered

hoods greet the surfacing dawn, resting

upon fresh poetica proffered: the tender body

of a turtledove, arranged in immolation

at her bedside; neck snapped, breast still

warm. A token of your affection.

Persephone

pines for

STOCKHOLM

Paris Rosemont

PERSEPHONE LITERARY MAGAZINE

POETRY

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64