Dante 7
We stopped to ask directions but there were none. The air was thick with souls which could not stop. Among them: a child, a Laotian, and a mortgage analyst, a Norwegian far from home. The child had lost its diaper. He was carried by the Laotian, a mute. For bread we had ashes, for drink these useless tears.
The Norwegian told me of a rooster, when he'd been dead a long time. In Norway, he said, they use roosters to locate dead bodies. They put the rooster on board a boat and row slowly across the fjord. When the rooster crows, they stop and dredge for the dead. We continued walking
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Author's Note
the dante files, updated
Other stories by Gary Percesepe
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Interesting.
Cool idea!
*
Thanks, Gary
Fascinating. Love the invention.
Thanks, Bill. Still playing with the idea--seems like it could open up onto a vein of poems...
Thank you, Dianne!
Splendid dream-scape. I love this sentence: "For bread we had ashes, for drink these useless tears."*
Beate, so nice to hear from you! Thanks for reading & commenting on this one--
Nice. This: '..and a mortgage analyst, a Norwegian far from home.' Has dual meaning, the same person or (in the context) two different. Also the last sentence, very effective flat downbeat counterpointing the preceding.
Thank you, Eamon. I always find your comments enlightening and helpful.
Oh, boy.
You feel like you're participating in this one.
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thank you--