Doug Anderson: Charon

Once upon a time people discovered old people. They just looked and saw them there. They were everywhere, like trees. They talked to them, asked them about their lives and a whole labyrinth of history opened. The old guided them through the labyrinth. Showed them the graffiti on the walls. “This is where I fell in love and lost my mind.” “This is where the Nazis knocked down my door at three in the morning and scattered my mother’s things on the floor and walked on them.” Such a long labyrinth and after a while all ages blended into one. They said to the old, “We’ll take you in. We promise not to leave you on the ice with the Orca below contemplating your shadow like a menu.” And then the world achieved some balance. The old were the last to be brought home.

~

The boat came by my bed, Charon poling through the murk. Get in, He said, and so we drifted through a night of broken trees and burning cars. We stopped a while on the other side to watch the American electorate chase one flag after another, pursued by stinging flies, then he brought me home. I toweled the Hell muck off my feet, crawled back in bed and slept another hour. I needed it.

~

Once upon a time there was a man who lived to a great age. He outlived everyone who knew him, who remembered his shortcomings and bad behavior, as well as those who remembered the good about him. When he was completely alone and there was no one left to shame or praise him, he still felt the same way about himself; deep shame and little memory of his goodness. One day, in respect for his age, a young woman opened the door for him. She was carrying a baby in her other arm. When she smiled he began to release all the darkness in himself.

Copyright 2023 Doug Anderson

Doug Anderson’s books include Undress, She Said (Four Way Books, 2022).