By Eric Qian
Artwork by Lydia Morgan
i
Eurydice only has two bars of
wifi signal,
so she can’t send Orpheus
this awesome meme
she found.
ii
Orpheus with her admiration in his hands;
Eurydice grasps his desire, slips on the pavement —
cracks her skull on the pavement,
He buys an ice lolly with pocket change, waiting;
he doesn’t know yet.
The birds lift off the street.
iii
Down to the place she goes.
Wails
while descending,
Phone held high.
(No wifi on the way to the underworld)
iv
“Can I have the password?” she asks Cerberus.
“No.” (Times three).
More wailing; Hades to intervene.
Hades pauses. Utters, “Tough luck dear.”
A grimace, moves on.
v
Eurydice, lying on the dais, weeps.
Death is light as a curtain upon her.
Take it off,
take it off,
she cries.
vi
Library of the dead’s rank
with shadows, but she’s a shaft of
light. Cold fingers dog-ear Shakespeare,
scuffs at Faulkner. Hades is furious.
She grows lighter still.
vii
By the window sill, she grows close
with Persephone,
(you know the way it goes).
Somewhere
A symphony is starting.
viii
“Come up, where we gnash our teeth
and struggle in the light of day.” But that which binds so tight
is not enough. “What’s become of you?”,
he calls. No answer.
Orpheus re-emerges, all alone.