“Inferno” Canto 34 Illustration by Daniele Albatici
Dante and Virgil
climbed fearfully
downward that
terrible torso
gargantuan Satan
clinging to dense evil
black belly hair
crawled into his navel
dark sense-deprived
center of earth where
an upside down
inside out portal
repugnant to physics
inconstant of sane
esthetic perspective
did somehow
enable escape
through ascension
from deepmost
ninth circle of hell
to deliver the pair
unto dewy repentance
aswirl on the fetid
island-borne mountain
whose seven
tiers traced the
yet unexplored
path to paradise
Poesy plus Polemics 
sounds like a place I usta work…
LikeLike
yikes!
LikeLike
“repugnant to physics” — great line, and a great accompanying illustration
LikeLike
thank you, Siren
LikeLike
It might (it will actually, but still…) sound out of place, but what do you for a living?
LikeLike
See About the Author at http://poesypluspolemics.com/about/
for details. I was Sr VP of Underwriting for a Fortune 100 insurance corp. Retired for 10 years. Disabled for 8. But I majored in Philosophy at college. How about you?
LikeLike
Hmmm. Now i remember reading it, but somehow that little fact didn’t stick in my head. I apologise.
And now it explains why you know about italians and their “r’s” 🙂
Thank you for sharing details about you.
LikeLike
Prego, signora o signorina Civetta, a seconda dei casi.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on ENGLISH LANGUAGE REVIEW .
LikeLike
Very descriptive–and scary.
LikeLike
Dante was master – I pay him humble homage
LikeLike
Reblogged this on Poesy plus Polemics.
LikeLike
The essence of what is both fearsome and powerful expressed so vividly.
LikeLike
it was Dante who did so – I am merely kneeling in his shadow
LikeLike
The Divine Comedy should be read every decade or so. I’m looking for a new translation for the next go-round. Any suggestions?
LikeLike
I’m no serious student of Dante – my last read was probably 30 years ago – the name Ciardi sticks in my mind – there have probably been many more since then
LikeLike