Beast of fraud
Found huddled in the dark of the Circle of Violence
My cord fallen
The usurers forgotten
A fall of blood from the river Phlegethon
Mounted, we descend to the
Malicious
Malebolge
The guilt washes over
Something beyond shame
Flattery steeped in shit
Their words dipped in venom
Herculean effort
The 8th Circle approaches
My torment almost done
Crawling ever deeper
To the sweet release, I come
Pseudo-Aristotle, my eyes pinned wide
Clinging to fine hairs
Face of an honest man
Leading deeping into the maze
Panderers and seducers whipped
The raspacious trapped face down
Flames licking soles
Those who penetrate the future see behind them
The barrators drowned in pitch
Concentric descent, cantos complete
Three faces, crimson, darkness, ochre
Six winged seraphim
Betrayers weep as my course reverses
Parallel ascension
Antipodal motion
Until, finally
Purgatorial departure
Excommunicated
Musing upon the shore
Far from the Acheron now
Lower slope, contumacy
The Indolent, last ritual
The Rule of the Mountain
On sunset, inert
Daybreak over the Terraces
A stone across our backs
Bent and broken
Humiliated
Penitential grey, eyes fused by iron wire
Miserere nobis