Ying Zheng, “Inferno” (2020)

Inferno
After Domenico di Michelino’s Dante Illuminating Florence with His Poem

An outstretched hand overhangs
a steady stream of naked,
banner-chasers. They wobble,

arms flailing, down the deep
sunken spiral staircase
into the sanctuary

for a galaxy
of scoundrels gobbled up
by stains that had settled

in the seat of their smelly soul.
Hope stripped bare,
they, standing huddled, swear.

Michelino, why did you hide
what you had heard
in that helical hell?

Babies cry,
saints sigh.
They have nothing to abide by.

Michelino, why did you hide
what you had seen
in this sin-splattered sphere?

Satan stands cool
at the midpoint of the rule.
He has the skill to string us along as his fool.