Sunday, 9 October 2022

Octomeber Day 10 - Il Inferno

It is day 10 and I feel like trying something a little different. Today, we are going to hark back to Dante Alighieri's trilogy, specifically "Il Inferno" which depicts the circles of hell. For this one, roll a d10. Write a short piece in any form depicting that circle of hell in your own words. On a roll of 10, write about Purgatory instead. For an extra challenge, try writing this in a similar fashion to Charles Simic's "The Church of Insomnia".

Octavus

Here, encircling like spokes on a wheel - stone bridges strain under the weight of bodies, heads wrenched backwards and mouths contorted. Fetid clouds hang low beneath the pathways, groans of the half-drowning; throats filling with sewage. Men march asleep - in gilded cloaks, lined with lead. Walking the banks of rivers filled with pitch and tar, hissing and caustic in which thieves boil. Venom drip from fangs of serpents and reptiles that strike and pierce the skin.

From somewhere below, an anguished howl echoes on a frigid wind.


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Day 30 - Ending

 The cat with the mouse in its mouth is just passing through. Past the mourners, veiled and shuffling through a rhythm only known in grief. ...