Poem: "After the Departure"

[ysabetwordsmith]

This poem came out of the October 2, 2012 Poetry Fishbowl.  It was inspired by a text prompt from siege and this lovely picture by ellenmillion.  It has been sponsored by Shirley Barrette.  This poem belongs to the series Fledgling Grace, which you can explore further on the Serial Poetry page.

After the Departure

"He is truly gone, then?"
the archdemon asked.
"You are certain of it --
you have some proof?"

"Yes, my lord, I have,"
said the demoness.
She unwrapped a gray feather,
and a faint halo crowned her horns.

"Alas," he said.  "Then it is so.
I will miss him -- a fine interrogator.
He always got answers."  Restless,
the archdemon fanned his bat wings.

"What should I do with this?"
the demoness asked, waving the feather.
"Throw it into the fires of the Pit,"
he replied, and they watched it burn.

Comments

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

I don't know the context, but it doesn't matter: I like this.

Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you like it.

Context: The Fledgling Grace series is about spiritual transformation. The first poem in this subthread is "Moulting." Watch today, because I'll be posting the rest of the series that I have so far; all the sale poems were sponsored.

[zeeth_kyrah]

Ah, interrogation. Getting answers is not the same as getting information, and not all that information will be good.

But it's Hell. Information might not be the goal.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>> Ah, interrogation. Getting answers is not the same as getting information, and not all that information will be good. <<

True. Infernal interrogators have some advantages, though. First, they don't have to worry about what is usually the main botch point: accidentally letting the victim die. They're already dead. Second, devils may have some sense of truth and lie, as part of perceiving souls. Given their own status is probably isn't very clear ... but the more in tune with Truth they get, the clearer it would get ... yeah, no wonder the poor archdemon is going nuts over this.

>> But it's Hell. Information might not be the goal. <<

I would suspect the point is to torment people with their own hidden, unexamined truths. That can cause truly stupendous amounts of pain. You'd have to dig around a lot to find it, which is an effective warmup.