Hades

Under the watchful eye of Hades

I used my strong hand to spread

brown to the right 

and the bloody red to the left

          hills and paths that led

          downward to the sea

          where sweat and salt are mixed.

Then for a moment, I stopped

to listen to the owl’s call

requiem for my dead comrades

          hour of wisdom incarnated

          lines of people I pulled from

          the earth’s bottom

chthonian climax

unorthodox couplings

          the expert analyzer that I was

          and I counted

          the fingers and phalli of men

          eloquent contours of women 

          sea caves into which future

generations were destined to dwell

labyrinthine quotations

asymmetrical widths

          elliptical lengths of shadows

          during the saddened August

I searched the fiery seashores for naked

bodies peacefully lying on the sand

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