REVELATA SUBTERRANEA ( A POETIC MUTATION )

One day,

my friends and I descended

into the sewers

underneath the metropolis

and discovered the most unusual eel-like creatures

lounging indolently

on the concrete banks of the subterranean river.

There they were,

lying close to the river's edge,

only deigning to bestir,

dip their heads languidly

into the passing current,

when a particularly choice morsel

of human waste floated by.

Their appearance overpowered me

with its repulsiveness.

 

"How could Evolution ever

come up with such a horrible abomination?"

I remember wondering to myself.

"How could Nature ever allow

such a glaring insult against Herself

to arise and flourish,

such a  travesty,

such a betrayal,

such a perversion of the very natural order?"

 

Yet when I looked closer

at these anathemas,

a most astounding feature

revealed itself to me.

 

Somehow, through some playful whim

of the Goddess who directs and

oversees the evolutionary process,

these overgrown worms

developed human faces.

 

Nay, not just human faces,

but visages of angelic beauty

such that no earthly woman

would ever dare to possess,

lest the Gods became spiteful and jealous.

 

This discovery was so unexpected,

the radiance of their mien so intense,

I stood transfixed,

unable to take my gaze

even for an instant

away from these heavenly creatures.

 

Their eyes looked at me

with all the cognition of a person.

Their facial expressions were those

of  kindness, serenity, wisdom.

 

There were two over to the left,

holding their heads close to one another,

gazing deeply, just like two lovers,

into each other's eyes.

Suddenly I felt an odd sort of compassion for them.

 

 

 

Reviews

[David Lewis Paget]

An interesting story, but one which finishes rather too abruptly I think. Of course, in nature there are all sorts of creatures created to clean up rubbish, flies for instance. And how often do you see a crow pecking away at roadkill? I don't suppose that human waste is any more obnoxious than a partly decomposed animal on the road, but there again, I don't know whether I would want to write about it. As far as these creatures having beatific faces, I'm sure the saints did too, whilst flogging themselves up the steps to St Peters Basilica in Rome. It was the repulsive nature of this activity that sent Luther on his crusade. Life's a funny business!

[~angelalala~]

wow this is an intersting and creative piece. i love the disgust at first then the realization they have beautiful human faces. very entertaining to read. perhaps creatures such as this could exist somewhere.fascinating write.