Canto of the Soothsayers: as they blithely played The Kinks’ ‘Lola’ on the Juke Box (Eighth Circle, fourth bolgia, 20)

Locals soothsay weather

as inclemency—the young

learn it early so they

don’t have to respect

the elderly. Travelling,

I hear lawmakers

still have vestiges

of superstition, so temples

survive among high-rise—a fear

of what might happen,

the niggling power

of ancestors. Storms

manifest, illuminate

the planet—an integrated

powergrid—all storms

everywhere joined up.

Who could have seen

that one coming?

Like extreme sports

unravelling the pristine,

drop-in drop-out

visitations,

head over heels,

twisted daredevils.

Here they intone

‘the stranger in town

is definitely a man

dressed up as a woman.’

The drinkers and teenagers

have ‘its’ measure:

‘the plumbing’s all wrong’.

Unearthing, exposure, revelation.

Old and young

are hot under the collar,

it has brought them together.

Female intuition,

male bravado:

‘we see our future

spread out before us…

if we don’t act,

if we don’t follow the signs,

we’ll lose our

way of life.’

Barometer: low.

Valley: dry as bones.