Random Details of Hell

The first thing that strikes a person is
its remarkable similarity to earth, as if
one were walking on the Jersey shore.
The ocean of hell rolls its surf, off to
my left, as effortlessly as the Atlantic,
and though I had expected an avalanche
of crimson here, the color scheme is little
different than Wildwood, although there
appears to be no boardwalk. The other
people on the beach are no more distraught
than any other vacationer and they possess
similar looks of happy disorientation. I think
I would like to speak to one of them, but I
resist this temptation for I realize I could
not explain my present situation any better
now than when I was alive. What would I
ask? "How long are we going to be here?"
or "When does our suffering end?" These
questions appear just as inappropriate
now as they once did back on earth. So
I continue down the beach, kicking surf.

The Death of the Moon

We are done howling . . .
we arise from all-fours
and brush off our knees.
We feel a tad sheepish,
after all this baying and
eye-popping exhortation.
The moon itself appears
embarrassed, then rattles
a few seconds on its hinge.
Abruptly it drops, falling from
the once mothering black sky as
gracelessly as an uncovered tryst.
We do not hear or see the great
splash, yet we know it hit the
Atlantic and is gone forever.
Those things for which we yearn
never seem to bear up under
our pleas, for we usually tend
to ruin what we love most. The sky
is empty; we think to howl, but now
restrain ourselves and try to hide.

^

Biography

Ward Kelley has seen his poems appear in journals world wide. He is a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee whose publication credits include such journals as: Plainsongs, Another Chicago Magazine, GSU Review, Rattle, The Chaffin
Journal, Midstream, Zuzu's Petals, Electric Acorn, Spillway, Literary Potpourri, Ginger Hill, Sunstone, Pif, Whetstone, Melic Review, Thunder
Sandwich, Potpourri and Skylark. He was the recipient of the Nassau Review Poetry Award for
2001. Kelley is the author of two paperbacks: "histories of souls," a poetry collection, and "Divine Murder," a novel; he also has an epic poem, "comedy incarnate" on CD and CD ROM.