Crossing the Styx, reversed explores living on the edge of, or just outside, metropolitan areas. It juxtaposes the hustle and bustle of the inner city, with the green and calm of the suburban areas. It is a poetic form mashup in which pantoum meets sonnet.
The poem
Crossing the Styx, reversed
It's like crossing the Styx, but then reversed:
leave Tantalus and Sisyphus behind,
bid farewell to the damned, doomed and cursed,
and let Charon ferry you from the grind.
Turn west and drive, cross the Seine once, twice, thrice,
it's like crossing the Styx, but then reversed:
no more crowds, packed metros. No more high-rise.
Bid farewell to the damned, doomed and cursed.
To escape that race, all you have to do
turn west and drive, cross the Seine once, twice, thrice.
You'll find Eden, El Dorado. For you,
no more crowds, packed metros. No more high-rise.
And we'll be there waiting with all our charms
welcoming you home, with our open arms.