hell's hungry gaping mouth

hell’s hungry gaping mouth 
bids me come and so
I do 
and beyond the gilded altar
I fall—
spiraling sprawling crying crawling
thinking my way down
as arms and legs thrash
at emptiness all around
at desert water and
arctic flames and
a void that enfolds me
with unscented aromas and
unsung songs that
fill my head with nothing
nothing until
my desire for nothing grows
swallowed not in darkness
but in the unfulfilled promise of light
surrounded by the absence of
a thousand other souls
no gnashing of teeth
no teeth at all
just the familiar bite
of indifference

(November 2003)