My Inferno

My interpretation of Dante's Inferno. I wrote about the sixth round of hell and my guide is my pet rat rasco

As we walked through the gates of lower hell,

I saw this vast open space with the ground

sticking to my feet. Oh my, that putrid smell!

From where I stood I identified what looked

like pounds of torn flesh. It disturbed me more                      5

to see it on these pikes where they were hooked.

When my gaze fell upon the blighted ground,

I saw that the sticky terrain was melted flesh.

In disbelief to what my eyes found,

for my mind was still trying to accept                                 10

the fact that I was actually wandering

through hell. While my mind started to defect,

I pushed my way through the excess flesh,

to where the sinners were held. I saw aligned

rows of chairs, with mirrors showing the thresh                    15

of sinner’s shame.Taking my eyes away from lights

that were held on the mirror, illuminating

the guilty’s sins, I saw what gave me the frights.

Their arms fused to the table in front,

burned into their skin giving off a scent                              20

so amiss. Aside from the smell, they grunt

and arch their spine where the pain dived deeper

to where they sat. Their asses reduced

to nothing like the bones of the reaper.

Aside from their skin being burned away,                         25

a devil-like-creature was shredding the rest

of their skin and told them, “it will be okay.”

It was hard to make my eyes go astray,

but then I came to realize where the smell

and flesh originated from down the way.                         30

Then, as my stare shifted to the back

of the sinner's head, what my eyes saw

was the same face, distorted and black.

Sensing confusion, Rasco spoke to me lightly,

“these sinners are people who in life were                      35

two-faced, godforsaken people who rightly

deserve what they are getting. Since they deceived

and were never truly themselves around

anyone, so they shall be perceived.

Their is the face as they showed to people,                      40

and the other is the demon hidden within.”

My knowledge learned in hell, turned into a treacle

of sweetness that led to insurmountable truth.

With this being hard for me to absorb fully,

I went ahead and asked the question like a sluth.            45

“What is the use of having the second face

if they cannot witness its atrocity?

And who are those creatures within the space?”

He replied. “You see all the dog-like-demons

behind those sinners? They are called Kitsune.               50

Aside from tearing skin off these cretin,

every hour on the hour they must

have their heads turned one hundred and eighty

degrees around, so that they can see just

how they really look. Deceitful and ugly                        55

are what they are.” In the distance I heard

the sound of a clock striking three chimes snugly

one after another. I saw the Kitsune take

the heads of the manic sinners and turn

their heads inch by inch in order to make                     60

the pain more excruciating. Seeing

it was one thing, but the snap and crack

of their neck made everything in my being

shiver. Rasco told me to go walk around

and as I started to roam, one sinner                           65

started to call out to me who looked like a hound.

“You! You’re not dead are you? You are too pretty

To be wandering around here. I’m Clementine

Don’t you remember me from your s****y

life? Haha!” I felt furious to be standing                     70

in the same vicinity with her two-facedness,

and that is when Rasco gave me an interesting

offer. “I see she angers you down to the core.

All you have to do is ask the demons,

Whisper to them and you can even the score.            75

I whispered into one of the kitsune’s ears                                                                                                                                                                         
and the next thing I knew, Clementine started

to melt into the chair and desk with shear

pain coming from her mouth so loud and painful

that I had to cover my own ears.                            80

The thrill of it all made me feel delightful.

With that Rasco had decided we spent

enough time in the sixth round. It was

time to leave, so to the next round we went.

Author's Note

Please be honest I will take all critiques.