hell is divorce
waking up without the man of your heart
year after year

hell is the Bay Bridge commute
even in a luxury car
yes

hell is poverty
tsunamis
murderous weapons
child abuse
disease

hell goes on
in intellectual formats
bibles
treatises
essays
short stories
poems
and in church

my friend will die soon of cancer and
not be afraid of hell
we’ve told her, surely,
her brave stint on earth
will assure her
a deserved heavenly place
seated with Rumi, her guest