1001. ANABASIS

ANABASIS
This is the end of everything I've ever known:
They put my face in a leather pail, ratcheted
my arms with some form of winch. Pressed
hard where my eyes set in. I screamed
bloody murder. Privately, of course
I was laughing all the time.
-
The first guy, some Slovakian Neanderthal
with teeth like coins, spit in my face
unwittingly while trying to talk. He
meant to be saying something
horrid, but couldn't manage
to even breathe. Any
soliloquy needs
breath capacity.
-
So he was a shit, but I knew
that already. The next guy -
'Coutrona' - said my sister
was his lover and my
mother was his slave.
Oooh!, so bad was
that! I laughed
again.
-
That's when my lights went out.
I think, dear God, they were
beating my head with a pipe.
Pain necessitates a future.
At the moment, I really
had none. It was over
in a flash, and
here I am.