NECA STOLLER
The Crossing

"The Lethe in Greek mythology is the River of Forgetfulness
flowing through Hades whose water produces a lost of memory
for those who drink of it.”
            Webster's


On the pier, minimum fees
are given the boatman.
He uses pliers to pry rings,
watches, silver pins, and wallets,
even diamonds and small coins
from the mouths of the proper dead.
Carefully seated, their lucent bodies
are centered on the pitching planks
to balance the boat. With no vouchers,
the very poor are revised
into sea anchors and dragged
far behind to prevent drifting.
 
All the souls head into judgment
and when they drink of the water
their past lives are gone.
Changed to swans or lions,
clerks or carpenters,
they assume their chosen shape.
All but the smoothest of them.
Their stipulated bodies are soaked
in tannin, sewn into buoys,
and left to mark the shoals.