Her bobbed black hair
So perfectly trimmed
Just above her earlobes
From which dangle
Pretty silver beads
Short choppy bangs
Play across her forehead
And her grey face
Neither plain nor pretty
Her neck long and smooth
And bare, her shirt
Collar open and low-cut
Her humble breasts
Are nearly invisible
Beneath her dark blue gown
She glides across the ballroom
To a grand white piano
Almost floats atop the bench
Her pointed shoes prime the pedals
The tune she plays is haunting
Heavy on bass and dissonance
The room freezes and then
There are the stares
But not of anger, they are blank
Awed at her hollow expression
Her eyes are coal black
No whites in them at all
She reads no music
It comes from her soul
Tortured but brilliant
The audience falls
Into a helpless trance
And without any thought or clue
They begin an infernal dance
Infernity is her name
She is not a demon nor a devil
She is a nether being
Neither here nor there
Yet omnipresent and cold
Yet the air comes to a boil
Whenever she plays
The music is loud
And composed from agony
Bitterness, bloody tears
And sweaty bones
They are the woes of the damned
She reminds us
Of where we’re headed
Without a care
She drifts along
To another place
Where affluent gather
And their tickets are punched
On a one-way tour
Down the River Styx
To Hades Eternal
Written 11-25-14