To celebrate the day of its harrowing, and because the phrase came up again just the other day …

No, there should not be 
a special place in hell. 
Isn’t hell itself, 
after all, 
superlative?
As such, 
to disappoint Dante,
it should have no layers,
no geological strata 
of special and ordinary places; 
otherwise
hell might as well be 
on earth as in eternity.

Which brings us, neatly,
to the spiritual,
if you will, 
in which 
we should not be 
hoping or praying,
creating in our minds carved-out 
corners for the torment of sinners
we like the least, 
but wringing our hearts 
for their conversion, 
burning our souls’ midnight oil 
for their redemption, 
pitching our forks into manure,
and piling on the stench of mercy.