Back from the Abyss

Back from the Abyss
Eight o’clock. After one of the strangest dreams of my life, I am back from the abyss. This is what happened: at three-thirty this morning, without being told by anyone or having been given any reason, I learned that I was to be cremated . . . while I was alive and awake and in possession of my senses. After talking briefly with several people I had never seen, I was joined by my grandmother’s cousin, William Saroyan. For a dead man, he was looking remarkably well, and was even wearing a hat. My first impression was that he was unaware of my situation, but then it seemed he was simply not impressed by it. Instead, he was more interested in the other people in the room, and began asking them personal questions in his extremely loud voice — so loud it made them disappear. And then he disappeared. “Very well,” I said. “Let’s get on with it.” I walked into another room, and asked the young man waiting there if there might not be some mistake. When he assured me that all was in order, I felt my heart sink. All I could think was, What a disappointment. Then I asked how long it would take. His answer was precise: I would be reduced to ash in exactly four minutes and fifty-five seconds. I imagined myself baking, and my features falling away one by one to reveal my bones. The young man directed me to a comfortable chair with its back against the wall. I sat down in the chair, took a deep breath, and waited. He smiled, then turned a knob on the wall. At first I felt nothing. Then I became aware of my heart, beating faithfully inside me like a clock. I began to feel warm. The young man stepped outside. I was alone. Warmer. Warmer. This is what it’s like, I thought, as a heavy drowsiness came over me. I guess one just sleeps through it . . . Then, as I was about to let go and drift away forever, my eyes opened. The dream was over. Now I am here, writing. Or am I? *March 26, 2006* Previous Entry Next Entry Return to Songs and Letters About the Author	Also by William Michaelian POETRY Winter Poems ISBN: 978-0-9796599-0-4 52 pages. Paper. —————————— Another Song I Know ISBN: 978-0-9796599-1-1 80 pages. Paper. —————————— Cosmopsis Books San Francisco Signed copies available Main Page Author’s Note Background Notebook A Listening Thing Among the Living No Time to Cut My Hair One Hand Clapping Songs and Letters Collected Poems Early Short Stories Armenian Translations Cosmopsis Print Editions Interviews News and Reviews Highly Recommended Let’s Eat Favorite Books & Authors Useless Information Conversation E-mail & Parting Thoughts Flippantly Answered Questions
Top of Page