Thursday, May 2, 2019

Revised Older Poem: WHAT IS HELL?


WHAT IS HELL?
  
is Hell a place
like a shopping mall food court
where almost everything is closed
and you’re the only one
informally dining there
the elevators don’t work
the escalator is broken
and you can’t leave the mall
no matter how much you want to

or is it a bookstore
where you’re watching
an egocentric literary sensation
standing on a chair
and saying in body language
with volume turned up to 12:
YOU’RE NOT ME
AND YOU NEVER WILL BE
and you can’t leave the store
no matter how much you want to

or is Hell
that part of one’s mind replaying
this cognitive distortion mantra:
if it happened Before,
it will happen Once More,
and you can’t stop dwelling
on sins of the long-distant past
or imagine a less calamitous future
and you can’t leave your house
no matter how much you want to

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