Hellfall

Abstract

Hellfall Theodor Däubler (bio) and Sean Zhuraw (bio) I found one of you whose oeuvreLavishes him already in soul in CocytusAnd in body on the surface seems preserved. —Dante, Inferno: XXXIII, 155–157 Around me, ravenously, the recoiling Nothing grimaces.The Sierras of Error fork into Agonies.Into my Heart inks a deadlier Indelibility:I await the Hellcourt's SentencesWhere silkstrung Anachrobatic Carapaces rib the Internees:I have a Stake, a Claim, but an Imp for Defenses!Hunger, the Unicorn with swaggings of Teats,That ten gash-gnashing Thirsthounds skin,Begins on me, sallowstaining, through to the intestine asunder it flays:And Loathing consumes me in Snailtendons.Erratic as a Steer who makes nightmarish Splices,It squirms behind me to whittle itself away in a Bound;Now Horns precipitate me to motley Displaces.But I wince again from tined Pangs [End Page 122] And grip my flickering self in the flitting Flametongues.Exquisite Disquietude wicks me like fuming under Tassels:Like Ears the flaring Goldtrim surveilsSuspiring Tendrils, gripping to dazzle,Who, increasingly, say: "Awaken, Shameful Mantles!You have the most wholesome Rawhide to ravel,Baste in your fringeflagrant Flareapparel!"The Veinclotter demands it to whimper,Which knells out as if from earthbound Chambers:"The Mouthfeelings, Indentures, a Lethe-Trespassing,Disguised, gelatinizes necrotic Susceptibilities.Pathetic Pleas curdle, imbruingThe forceful Forceps with flaming Tributaries."A chirring Vortex revolves my Thinking.I'm swept away in whimpering Fits;The flickers and fevers. A Silverlight defuses:"I was a Miss destined for your Senses.I cried out to the Man, make me into Missis, [End Page 123] I plead for Rest in the inflamed Flesh,But you didn't take me, and now inside I whirl like a Disk."The Darkness splinters its innermost Twinkle:Instantly I am softened by the Dead Air of my own Agnate.In the darkening Vanity, whispering Extracts fall involuble,For now, the lucid incidence can itself divaricate!That flickering in the Lobes, stoking in the Fingers:"Soundless and blessed, now there will be a Human fecundate.No Knowledge can dampen its Vomer,For he may reach all of Might's cold Etiquette."At that I laugh aloud: an anointed Earthling!I toast your louche, lurid Becoming.How delicately itself a germinating Being sprawls.The Recess recoils at itself. Beclouds itself in the Dark.There is Peace! Bound for the little Youngling?The Genesis of Goods, Impetus, and a Mouth for SparksIs gradually contoured by Mother's Cajoles:She can encage it with gilder Wanting. [End Page 124] She hears her Heart, its Hammering and Throbbing.Already the Lad's goldfrolic Weeks are nearing.Make your Mother happy, induce yourself, Page!She must love you now, exalt your Evolution.Accept the body from the woman, its Patronage.You shall give birth to the secluded Sun.You Peace more manifest, you friendlier Star.Lap yourself in gold, ward forward, clad your Core;Ring in the fever-pitched Sussing of the World,Ignite the Forge that secures the KnollAround which the Ringing of Psalms purl.Sustain yourself! Plunge your all into Nightfall.Be gruesome, peer through the Hellscree.To Outbreak, blister your Streak! Here, Hell, involute me. [End Page 125] Theodor Däubler theodor däubler (1876–1934) is the author of more than twenty books of poetry, prose, and art criticism, including the collections The Starchild and The Starlit Path, where "Hellfall" appears. His honors include serving as the chair of the German pen club and being awarded the Goethe Medal. Sean Zhuraw sean zhuraw's poetry and translations have appeared in Boston Review, Tin House, The Offing, Defunct, New Session, typo, Denver Quarterly, and elsewhere. He teaches English and Creative Writing at the Community College of Philadelphia and Widener University. He lives gayly in West Philly with his husband and two cats. @toystutter on Instagram. Copyright © 2023 Sean Zhuraw