My Dear

In which ring of hell will you reside since you cannot abide by the rules
of common decency living from one lie to the next and feeling no
shame at all when you are caught and seeing only your
glamour and youth in the mirror no matter how the
years pass like the portrait of Dorian Gray,
you thought you were here to stay
forever like a fixture on the wall
that keeps this town the same
and safe from marauders
in off the desert on a
moonless
night
but
your
devil
your gin
was within
like an underground
river that came in no wall
could stop or contain your sins
a treasure trove of them I have locked
up in a chest for safe keeping which I will
publish when you are long gone and only a
forgotten waif of your former self stripped of wealth
and living in the streets and taking a regular beating
from passing kids and gangs of thugs with nothing better
to do than torment you with sticks and steal your shoes but
your mind is a world away in another time and place when your
fancies ruled the total universe like Emperor Norton now you have no
clothes one of the beggars you spat upon in your youth is wondering in
the gardens of paradise thinking of all the nice things he can do for
others from afar beyond the redemption you will never know you need
because you succeeded at splicing your feelings and separating
your heart from your mind that analytically you are convinced
you have never done anything wrong in your life
and don’t deserve your fate which has finally
overtaken you like a roaring fire leaving
behind a charred forest and blackened
hills and soot floating down on all
things yes my general like Antigone
told you long ago you mistake this
cemetery for peace, if I could heal
you I would but like a snake you
would bite me again the
minute you could