Tom Billsborough

Marie & Josephine Tom Billsborough

This long poem is the tale of Marie and Josephine, and of their love story. The beginning of the poem/tale relates to the Greek Myth of Demeter (the Goddess of Nature, responsible for maintaining of earth) and her daughter, Persephone, who has been carried off by the God of the Underworld. Demeter, while desperately seeking the girl, abandons her responsibilities. Then, at a well, she meets Baubo, the wise woman/witch. In the poem Demeter represents aspects of Marie, and Baubo is to some extent Josephine. Two Cantos of the poem recall the Russian folk tale "Vasilisa the Beautiful". Based on an interpretation of the Russian tale, as Vasilisa tries to fetch light from Baba Yaga's hut, Marie seeks the fire of her intuition which has been extinguished thanks to the control of her husband. So, "Baba Yaga" is the intuitive part she needs to rediscover. The poem also deals with the life of Louise Labé, the great poetess of Renaissance France; in a sense she is the role model which Marie (who is herself half-French) would like to be. But the key word to the poem is LOVE: "And know that every pattern / Is unique and beauty lies / Concealed in this diversity."Enjoy!