An Entrance
We were still standing by Cerberus
and those heavy stone doors
just ajar with beguiling light
slipping through the crack.
Hades touched one of the doors
with his large, pale hand
and it glowed red
where he touched it.
Slowly the spill of light
filled the caves and
I was gazing into
blinding brightness
so sharp I had to cover my eyes.
But I felt Styx’s hand gently tug
on mine, and my feet moved
forward into the white abyss.
First, It Was the Asphodel Meadows
Slowly the brightness gave way to a haze of mists flowing over lavender fields. This was no longer the cave or the riverbanks I had come to know so well – it was wide and open. I almost forgot where I was until I looked up and saw that it was still the underbelly of the earth, tree roots hanging down over the dome. This place was not cold like the cave, but nor was it hot like the garden in the palace I grew up in. My mother once told me about this place. Like mortals hear stories about Gods, we are told stories about them. In her story there was a man who led a life that was neither good nor evil. She said he lived a largely insignificant life. This was where souls like his were sent. Most mortals after death ended up here, in these lavender fields where nothing ever truly happened. I saw souls wander about lost. ‘What are they doing?’ I whispered to Styx as Hades guided us wordlessly. I noticed that the spirits were careful to keep away from him but they looked at us with curiosity. Styx glanced down at me as I grasped her hand tighter. Her lips lifted slightly, in what I presumed was reassurance, and her fangs glinted in the soft grey light. ‘They are waiting.’ I looked back at them as they wandered across these seemingly infinite fields. ‘What are they waiting for?’ Styx shook her head. ‘That is what this place is. Infinite waiting.’
Fields’ End
To my child’s eyes, Asphodel
looked infinite, the fields
leading into an endless horizon.
But Styx, Hades and I
were immortals and we walked
the way Gods walked, never tiring,
quick in step and able to cover
more distance than mortal bodies
could ever walk or run.
To my surprise, the fields did end
