When I took it apart into tiny pieces and laid them out on the table, I realised how beautiful it had been before — but now the poppy looked completely different.

A sudden thought flashed through my mind… How much we resemble each other!

I started reading about the origin of poppies, and the first thing I came across was the myth of Demeter.

The sacred symbol of Demeter — poppies — has long been associated with her; they grew among the wheat fields and were one of her attributes.

Persephone, the daughter of Demeter and Zeus, was abducted by Hades, the god of the underworld, while she was gathering flowers with the nymphs. After her daughter’s disappearance, Demeter wandered the earth in deep sorrow — for nine days and nights, as described in the "Homeric Hymn to Demeter" — and poppies are said to have grown where she walked.

In another version of the myth, it is said that Hypnos, the god of sleep, created poppies himself to comfort Demeter...

Now I’m beginning to understand that growing poppies in my garden for three years after my husband’s death —

was my unconscious farewell, my inner mourning.