Infernal Repast

William A. Racicot

Copyright (c) 1989

               Her countenance is dazzling bright,
               with teeth, of course, a pearly white;
               her eyes are pitch as blackest night,
            with hair to match, wild as birds in flight.

               And when into my presence -- hark!  --
                she comes with light to banish dark,
                  she seems to me a sweet monarch,
                  Lovely Persephone, Hades' lark.

                With Cerb'rus, sweetest little pup,
                  she comes to me that we may sup,
                   so I must set forth triple cup
                for the dog when I set the table up.

                 I fear lest Zeus, the king divine,
                 or brother his, the lord of brine,
                   be angered that I not decline,
              to feed Hell's queen, or Hell's canine.

                   And so in deepest cave I hide,
                to take my meal with Pluto's bride,
                for I should not live long if spied
                    or overheard by holy pride.

                   But after dinner comes respite
                  from fear in arms of lady dark,
                     supervised by headful pup
                    in cave together we recline,
                  and Aphrodite's arts are plied.

Bill Racicot is a sophomore stuck in Limbo because of a paperwork error in the school of the humanities at Carnegie Mellon University. In the past, he has been a student of mathematics, an actor/singer, an accounts receivable clerk, and a human interface between man and a VHS(tm) machine.

He can be reached at the address wr0o@andrew.cmu.edu