The Reckoning

I suffer the agonies of the damned

Dante lost in the Dark Wood

when I attempt to purge myself 

of cast- off clothes.

For they are either clean slates

material for Paradiso

bought on a whim

perhaps in a bargain basement

an offer not to be missed

but never worn

marking me  waster, hoarder

consigning me to Upper Hell

in eternal flight from swarms 

of stinging wasps and hornets

Or they are old travel companions

trusted friends, steady Eddies

worn thread bare in my service

thrown aside by my treachery

a much graver offence 

consigning me to the city of Dis

 and the lowest, darkest circle of Hell

 to a frozen lake and a river of wailing.

So that is why I waver

and the charity bags pile up

and I beat my chest Mea Culpa

In the hope of salvation

and the prospect of purgatory.

Though I am probably 

 by Dante's reckoning

a lost cause....

Copyright 2023 Cathy Leonard All rights reserved

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferno_(Dante)