The Underworld

You cannot plunge into the underworld

with a suitcase clutched in one hand

and a rope in the other.

The birds of Nothingness will peck

at your certainties,

one by one.

They will devour your eyes—

blind to the marvels that

linger in the twilight.

They will steal your ears—

deaf to the violet

scream of Silence.

Then, you will be erotically

engulfed by a whale,

as blue as the void of Night.

In the depths of her belly,

you shall spin a thousand times

tasting the rapture of primordial Chaos,

where every fragment of being

murmurs the ache of yearning.

Regurgitated, empty,

you will be led to descend

yet more still.

The creatures of the deep sea

will ignite an abysmal flame

in the chamber of your heart.

New eyes shall awaken—

that will never again

see just one side of the coin.

New ears shall be bestowed—

ready to listen to the symphony

of the world behind every word.

And you will never be afraid again.

*

m.p.