I REMEMBER YOU

a muted scream reverberates
in the bell jar where the mummified mermaid
clutches her head in what once was horror and pain
but now is the echo of agony

what am I doing here
how could this happen to me
where is the ocean
what are these prurient eyes trying to see

can the past be changed
can she redeem the time
or can she only look back in revulsion
at the fatality

I believe that the end of the story
creates the beginning
I believe that the past is not experienced
until it is remembered and understood
I believe that waking up from a dream
is the dream's consummation

I scream in the bell jar
clutching my disfigured face
and withering before the gaze
of the depraved multitude