melancholy

In the 9th Circle of Hell I Found My Mother

Artwork by Pavlina Bargili

In the 9th circle of Hell

I found

My mother,

Wearing her wrap dress and, 

Even now,

In heels,

Click, clack

The sound of my childhood 

Returned to me like a fever dream – 

In Hell she does her sowing, Her 

knitting,

Her compulsive cleaning of surfaces 

And dreams,

Making everything sterile,

Making sure that everything is

How she would like it to seem 

To neighbors,

Sinners,

My mother was always so

“Holier than thou” –

Well look at you now,

Mother,

Nine circles in for

Betraying those who loved

You, in the frigid cold –

And hell has frozen over

For you.

Gabriela Jatene is in her final year of study as an English major at Barnard College of Columbia University in the City of New York.

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