i had one foot in the river styx

counting change for the boatman

when i woke up

only wet with perspiration 

i was mere moments away

from cold judgment

nothing in comparison to

the critiques of my peers

or of my mother

who would have shoved my mouth

full of pomegranate 

if it meant ridding herself of me

alas, here i am

too much alive

either the gods' divine will

or hades' sick joke