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I once paid bargain price for a ride on my River Styx

It was a deal with the devil, not with my soul

but with my spirit

It was good economics

Life’s edges display

on the coast and I am sure

I have the best view

In the depths unknown I saw the fish

quench my thirst

While the stream engraved my boat

left it caked in graffiti

Soon I could see it all

Paintings in the palm tree

          Haikus all over the hills

                    Sand covered in songs

The Styx cut the earth and past it all

flooding the air with its own fury

Vibrancy set fire to the land

only to birth phoenixes of the arts

The river was constant

The land was everchanging

I saw Genghis Khan’s home

And the godly river flowing from that pleasure dome

See his ancestors rise from their graves more alive than ever before

Behold the descendants, even the infinite unborn

Perhaps I could learn from the river

How to draw and paint and sing

And show someone

But how can I do that like the Styx

I don’t taste like the river

          sound like the river

                    smell like the river

Okay, I’ll show you the best I can

Then the ride was over

I only bargained for, like

A few decades on the river

It was the best deal I could get

Most people only show up at the end of their ride

Though they get to stay forever

It was a good trade though

I hope so