Proserpina, Proserpina go home to your mother
—Kate McGarrigle
every mother’s haunting cry
every daughter’s loss
a carefree afternoon
turned bleak because of him
they refuse to speak
about the crime
she’s just a child
wails her poor mother
come home come home
he has her in thrall
her money in his hands
she tries to please
but she cannot leave
the child seems safe
she likes it here
it’s no longer her call
no food on the bench
come home come home
he’s in his locked shed
there’s a stench of porn
Prosperpina daughter
won’t come home
mother leave his scorn
his hated shed
mother come home
to me
come home come home
Notes on Propserpina
Last month I heard an interview with Martha Wainwright on Australian radio. The interview included a recording of Martha Wainwright singing the song on Q&A, an Australian TV show in 2013. The song Prosperpina was written by Martha Wainwright’s mother, Kate McGarrigle whose songs I have listened to for decades. It was Kate McGarrigle’s final song.
I was moved not only by the interview, but especially by the song. I have written many poems about Persephone but this song gave me a new perspective in which an unknown figure is calling the child to go home to her mother. I hope you find the song as haunting as I do.
Proserpina is the Latin name for Persephone.
Wow, I love this song. Thank you!