Untitled (Hell Haiku Collection, Parts V. through VII.)

V.

shattered, his heart wept,

twisted, crying for a sword,

he sought Achilles

VI.

whispering in calm

shadows, "go not to Lethe,"

stillness swept the air

VII.

with Dante, his guide,

rage, his descent into Hell,

to find or forget...

IV.

circling his tail twice,

Minos, with such levity,

recoils to seven

III.

some semblance of her,

mired in Charon's cool embrace...

tears, crossing the Styx

fire

golden ashes fall
brewing autumn's arrival
spiced with crackling leaves

II.

beneath the ash tree,

in tranquil Elysian Fields,

waiting to no end

I.

.45 caliber,

cardamom, still white lilacs,

whispering Lethe.

Through the Shadows (Revised)

Blindly, freely, effortlessly
I fall into that old familiar place.
Engulfed in frigid darkness,
The world now upside down.
Across the frozen lake,
Faintly, I can see him.
He too had fallen,
Or perhaps was thrown headfirst.
Old and feeble, he is not as though he seems...

My hands, wintery branches, I light a match.
In the icy waters beneath my feet,
The bodies begin to tremble and convulse...
They lust for, yet fear the light.
I turn to the once beloved hero.
His face, the scars of suffering,
Traces of regret, a semblance of betrayal,
And his eyes, the deep void emptiness...
The sorrow of being forgotten.

My muscles begin to tense
The cold peeling away at my bones...
Through the shadows,
Upon the weak flicker of the flame,
I can see his eyes transfixed.
He smiles...A sudden burst of warmth...
And in the brief second,
Before the flame draws dead, I smile back.
As if to say, "Thank you."