Alice Notley

The Descent Of Alette ['The Water' 'Of The River']

'The water' 'of the river' 'was mild-temperatured,' 'the current 
gentle' 'I soon began' 'to swim—' 'in a moonless,' 'starless darkness' 
'The sky held no clouds—' 'no luminous' 'spheres existed here' 
'Yet the sky was' 'a sky; ' 'for the river air' 'was fresh & sweet' 
'Then,' 'as I swam,' 'the others I contained—' 'my companions 
from the subway—' 'weightlessly' 'emerged from me,' 'looking 
shadow-like,' '& quickly' 'solid-bodied' 'began to swim with me' 
'I never really' 'saw their faces' 'We swam quietly,' 'concentrating,' 
'our motions almost synchronized' 'In the distance sat' 'small yellow 
lights' 'where presumably' 'the other shore lay' 'Partway across' 
'the river,' 'something else, a substance,' 'a state of being,' 
'a thick noxious' 'distress' 'in the form of' 'a gray cloud,' 
'welled up within me' '& left my body' 'from a point along' 'my spine' 
'The cloud' 'hovered near us' '& so we turned onto' 'our backs to 
watch it' 'It was full of' 'ghoulish faces,' 'phosphorescent' 'death's 
heads; ' 'one skull grew large' '& open-mouthed' 'It had long' 'glowing 
hair,' 'screamed as if' 'in terror,' 'then spoke' 'to me:' 
' 'We are dying' 'You are killing us' 'killing us'' 'The cloud exploded' 
'into greenish flame' 'which was soon consumed' 'by darkness' 
'We turned over' '& resumed' 'our swimming'