22 January 2006 | Vol. 5, No. 4

A Visit to the Underworld Can Permanently Alter Your Perspective on 'Restless Existence'

by SUSAN TICHY

He said, "As power-driven as an Anglo-Saxon sea poem," and

He was not looking out the window

(No, I didn't make that up

But I rearranged it)

A little farther south they say, "When the winds blow, kneel

To Eros"

*

She died her hair blue, then red, then almost white

Better, she said, than killing herself

Or drinking or taking her clothes off

Too often in a public place

"Empty your pockets! Do you have enough?"

Myself, I would only do that if it were fun

*

He said, "Trust no one," and she laughed

The job description reads, roughly, hooked on the bang-bang

To kill you first must obfuscate, say

"Ammo more expensive than a gun"

"Let's buy a bullet! Who's got bread?"

The only thing that's here is human beings

*

Salt on her skin, what are the odds?

She was fishing up facts, or finishing

"Was that a hole in the ground?"

"Was that my head?"

If I move I will bump into something

And knock it down