Defeating Cerberus, Taylor Rose Elliott

by Taylor Rose Elliott

BUT TELL ME TO WHICH YOU DARE TO VENTURE THUS SO FAR FROM THE WIDE HEAVEN OF JOY TO WHICH YOUR THOUGHTS YEARN BACK FROM THIS ABYSS1

I. The hush of the clouds, purple and pink In spring the autumn leaves blow away one by one The hush of the birds, telling me it is not my turn to speak I look, wondering, which could it be? The King or the Christ? Which one made each shining green blade one by one So soft, a silver hush blowing in the wind And so sharp, I keep my feet under me on my bench I keep my feet under me, sedentary and sore and splintering I wonder if I am watched by the King or the Christ

It seems today the world is Swooning2 In the sweltering helter skelter, we fall off the tree one by one Except I am not a leaf and it is not my turn to speak, And I float, is it the El Shaddai or the Rabbi? To which I should cry out for the chlorophyll, to cover my shame But I am too afraid to believe the testament could be this good for me But I am tired of paying to fill up my box of sugar pills, week after week The cost is low, the pain slows, but I don’t feel anything anymore at night Who is it I cry to, El Shaddai or the Rabbi?

WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE SO CRUSHED WITH PAIN? THEY ARE THE BAND OF ANGELS WHO KNEW NOT TO SIDE WITH GOD OR REBEL AGAINST HIM.3

1 Canto II, The Inferno 2 Dante’s emotional reaction to Hell in The Inferno 3 Canto I, The Inferno

II.

The hush of the rain patting my back, is it the Third Circle4 we’ve reached? The weight of the sky when I remember such thing as eternity The hush of my lover’s swooning weep, reminding me to let God Speak And I look, but my eyes are too wet to see So I feel with my fingers, soft whet blades one by one So real; on this earth I’ve beautiful love, but I am getting nothing done. There are snakes growing around my ribcage and there’s no room For either of our hands if we are both shaking, selfish, and scared The hush of the clouds seem to cry ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE5

III.

Over the hush, the words against me have been thought and spoken And over the hush, a new Master of Masters reminds me what light looks like The weight of the sky holds me down so I can see, what Trying looks like Past the purple clouds, the craved Poet’s suicides, the spreading disease So I can feel something so real I am freed from my flesh’s fickle feeling So real, doubtless love lights a candle in my chest, I need no pity now that in mercy I am beginning And until I can go on, I will keep on singing Maybe one of the Poets has finally learned Reverence Thus I began

LOOK TO ME AND LOOK THROUGH ME—CAN I BE WORTHY?6

4 Third Circle of Hell in Inferno Canto VI associated with gluttony and Cerberus the three-headed dog 5 Canto III, The Inferno 6 Canto II, The Inferno