I arrived in the crypt of what used to be the world
a place I’ve only heard about in fiction
I didn’t think I’d ever see it
Everything was soaked in blood
dried on the white walls of a galley I was led through aimlessly
The Hellions who had been here for an eternity were oddly polite
I was unsure if I could trust them
The rulers were vituperative
but I was headstrong, still entertaining my attitude
at the end of my tongue like a cherry stem, tying my fate
proving I could be a trickster too
They didn’t like that
I was deployed to work next to the furnace
A chimney that rose hundreds of feet and disappeared into the darkness
I was at the bottom
They knew I didn’t belong there
I watched as flesh was sent through rollers, flattened
stretched onto screens then charred as if it was a form of cremation
There was no tribute— it was a banquet
The Higher Ones always surveilled, keeping record
At one time, I was appointed to scrub
the blood and grey matter from the walls
shooing those whose brains turned to mush
as their mouths suctioned to the panels
always needing more
My physical body was still intact
but I have been told I’ll lose it later
I took my smoke breaks in the ice box
alongside another Hellion
I enjoyed the last moments of my lungs
inhaling substances
reminding me of my freedom
and human body on Earth
I was skeptical because it was as easy as walking out
the doors— Then I entered phase two
The journey ahead would leave me bruised…
PaleDeerPoetry 