Prufrock, Revisited
When you open your eyes you’re dead
Prufrock is there
The only Virgil you’ve ever known
He extends his hand
Welcomes you to the afterlife
strangely identical to the room where you fell asleep
Offers you passage and a peach
Do you dare disturb the universe?
No, the ever answer
No more.
The time promised has passed
The hope of youth, a fire quenched
Turned into dingy yellow smoke
Alchemy of the lost.
In the room the women come and
Glue your eyes open
Nail your ankles to the bed
You will never escape, not really
Not like you imagined once
when your arms were bare and unpinned
free to walk upon the beach
Before you gave away your voice
to the mermaids, now singing
each to each.
