Finding the Inferno (poem)

“Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita

mi ritrovai per uni selva oscura”

In the middle of the road of our life,

I found myself in a dark wood.

- L'Inferno, Dante

Darkness surrounded me on all sides,

all I could make out were vague shapes,

like shadows strung across a black wall,

nightmares brewing in my mind.

I called out, for someone, anyone, for help,

No one answered.

But eyes of flame opened

in the shadows above my head.

The icy chill of fear crept over my heart,

petrifying the blood in my veins.

I thought it was the end,

oh, but it was only just beginning.

The flame-eyed being jumped down at me,

and I thought “what giant beast have I angered?”

But when it landed before me,

I realized it was no larger than a cat.

It cocked its head at me,

its flames searching my very soul.

There was unending silence,

the darkness only broken by the glow of its eyes.

I got the urge to speak,

“where am I?

And what are you?”

It responded with silence.

Then flames burst forth from its body,

illuminating its black fur and the trees around.

For a moment I was blind,

and then I recognized my oldest friend.

He ran off into the woods,

his fiery tail swishing through the air.

I followed after him,

chasing a candle through darkness infinite.

It took everything in me to keep up,

and I was often tempted to rest,

but I didn't want to risk losing him,

or getting distracted.

So I followed that cat of flame,

through the dark wood,

over mountains of impossible height,

and across empty deserts of ice and snow.

I followed him to the edge of a cliff,

whose bottom was far beyond knowable.

His eyes met mind and then glanced downward.

I saw and I knew.

I stood at the edge of absolute darkness,

and asked him “will you come with me?”

He didn't answer,

but I knew it would always be “yes”.

I lept,

down into the uncertain darkness,

despite the fear chaining my heart,

trying to bind it to icy loneliness.

I fell for longer than I thought possible,

and the darkness was complete,

but then, below me, light broke through,

and it reached up like a friend's helping hand.

I flew into it like a great raven,

in an instant, I was enveloped by light,

the light of the flames I call home,

welcoming me home like a college student's mother.

My old friend appeared before me,

the black cat with eyes of orange fire,

a certain satisfaction in the flicking of his tail,

“I have been waiting for you, old friend.”

-Zero