Diagram Semiotics

The serene people whose ease of manner

once made him yearn and confabulate

are laughable cartoonish and piteous now

could have been much worse he said

as his last breath left his scarred throat

feral hand closing his own eyes

St. Pudenda greeted him at the tall gates

under the lights at Checkpoint Charlie

Mariachi trumpets rolled out the mauve carpet

and a dog barked from behind the garbage bins

from all infinity we end up with this

a realm of syntax governed by ambiguity

she read from a large ledger atop a marble pedestal

why a ledger rather than a laptop is anyone's guess

apparently the vanguard party had been evicted

by Frankie Boxcars and the Hollywood mafia

many clouded eons ago in the great schism

over the digitization of paradise

no jury of his peers he noted with unease

nothing of telling import she imparted casually

eyes darting up and down the pages

as if something previously detected

had been airbrushed from history

arrested for self amplification she went on

and sorcery and coughing in quiet places

getting enough sleep she asked with a beaming smile

I don't know I was asleep he intoned

I suppose we can reveal the joke she mused

but I WAS dreaming he countered

backed into a tight corner by snarling lap dogs

tossed into a kidnap taxi with a sack over my head

marched with a gun in my back

through a forest of clichés

fed lines from a hideous new sitcom

about sex among the homeless

a weekly broadcast on the Piñata Vision Network

but what choice did I have knowing what I know

poor dear thing she continued

there is a better version of everything

a law of nature completely natural

and yes it is densely beautiful and

smoldering with awe like a corpse in the bathtub

try to avoid the truly grotesque

in favor of the marginally grotesque

we love having you in our science department

with the state secrets and midget porn videos

masquerading as the way things actually are

where the misty cows moo in contentment

and the Vaseline runs hot behind sanctuary doors

horrors altering the course of suns

between the here and the there

every bit of it needless she giggled

From "Engine of Didactic Beauty" available on Amazon

Reviews

[Bhuyanshi Talukdar]

It sounds like you're describing a surreal and unsettling experience, where the protagonist encounters a variety of strange and unpredictable characters and situations. The mention of Checkpoint Charlie and the Hollywood mafia suggests a sense of danger and intrigue, while the mention of St. Pudenda and the mauve carpet suggests a kind of whimsical and fantastical atmosphere. Overall, the story seems to convey a sense of the way that our perceptions and experiences can be shaped by our surroundings, and the way that we can find meaning and purpose in even the most unlikely situations.