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Remembrance
"Thirsty?" I ask Tantalus
and his eyes glint as he
bends down to the water. cups his hands into the water
but it slides right through his fingers like remembrances of you.
are sliding. and my throat tightens-- He sucks desperately at his fingers
but they are dry In my mind I suck at you
but you still are not there He tears at his hair, rises. stumbling
toward a tree, a pear
hanging plump and ripe from the branch. but the trees they slide and dance
away from grasping hands.
and I turn and leave-- no uses
for his madness In Elysium the Heroes play Red Rover
("... send Achilles right over...")
and I watch awhile. think to ask
if I can join
but the words catch in my throat the words all dry and fluttering in my throat.
so I keep walking. Sisyphus' rock rolls by down the stretching galleries of the Dead
and a long way further there is Charon
rowing. his pockets full of change
for the slot machines I pass a chaise lounge where Persephone
poses, offers me a pomegranate seed.
but that's not what I'm hungry for. I make a left, find the river
its banks all soft and dark the fragrance of the earth soft and dark
and I feel the edges
of my remembrances start to blur I bend down to the water. dip my finger
in the water (only a drop or two drops) Open my mouth wide. down Lethe slides--
forget. forget. forget. |