Into These Knots

Tell us how the soul is bound and bent into these knots, and whether any ever frees itself from such imprisonment. —Canto XII, Inferno I say,Without a God there is no hell. There’s only this—. She rustles for her keys. The apple tree sheds petal after petal. She says,Let’s take you to the hospital. The petals spin like sparks. I close my eyes and say,Without a God there is no hell, and there is only this. It’s just as well. The lawn is red and white. She asks,Who says? How do you know? The wind fells every petal. She says,Let’s take you to the hospital. I cannot breathe. I cannot tell her,Yes—. Because without a God there is no hell, as she whispers,Talk to me, I know I will clamber—but not toward heaven, toward the sky, eyes winking behind petal after petal. The rope-burnt bark will flake away and fall. Knot on my neck, the rest would be so easy: I’ll pray,Without a God there is no hell, then slip through petals—through petal after petal.