In the Next Life, Canto III, stanzas 200-217

She should have seen before, and now she saw,
that Ciral wanted to be given heed,
and she, by playing on this little flaw,
persuaded him to teach her how to read.

Now I cannot remember my first books.
In my day, ’twas most likely Dick and Jane.
I have no doubt, though, that those words had hooks.
I’m guided by the message they contain.

Such was the case, I’m sure, with Ciral’s ma,
as she put printed symbols into sounds,
and sounds to words, then sentences, aha!
And context is the meaning that surrounds.

What with this joy did she associate?
What stories, jokes, or poems did she try?
O, no such luck for this one; ’twas her fate
to be prepared in case someone should die.

Well, actually, before the final rite,
she learned the first and all those in between,
and like a happy child, she would recite
the lines each day as part of her routine.

Pronouncing words, while doing her no harm,
left all her ceremonies incomplete.
No one was born, and no one bought the farm.
No one accomplished an important feat.

Now, in her mind a marriage would consist
of man and woman iterating vows.
What happened after that, she must have missed.
She didn’t comprehend the why’s and how’s.

Oh, Ciral knew, but he concealed his smirk
when she recruited him to be the groom.
Although he’d have to take some time off work,
he’d have a joke by asking for a room.

And look at Noria, the lovely bride!
Had she known what, she surely would have blushed.
She knew that she was at her brother’s side.
She felt no tingle as their faces brushed.

The prankster savored waiting to reveal
the monster they’d created when they kissed,
but what he hadn’t figured in the deal
was next upon his student’s reading list.

When God commanded Adam to bear fruit
(assuming this is something we believe),
it wouldn’t have worked out had he said “Shoot,
we can’t do this; you share a rib with Eve.”

And who was there to marry Cain and Seth?
Should they have taken what they had to take?
Or should the line have ended with their death?
What if you had your legacy at stake?

The current patriarch cared not a whit
how many generations might succeed,
but he had been so long without, um, ‘it’,
the future of the race seemed guaranteed.

A less than eager daughter was convinced;
the marital bedchamber was prepared;
some perfumes were applied; some hair was rinsed.
Someone was ready; someone else was scared.

Now Ciral didn’t fret about incest,
but knew he shouldn’t move against her will,
and since he lacked romantic interest,
he didn’t try to sugarcoat the pill.

He gently helped her back into her dress.
He turned her to the door and slapped her buns.
She found her mother reading—you might guess:
the priceless tale of Judah’s wayward sons.

“He what?” the would-be grandma cried. “Oh my!”—
quite sure that he would cause the spill of doom.
And that, folks, was precisely why the guy
had quickly cleared his sister from the room.

But Ciral’s mother burst in just in time,
as he was ready to complete the thought.
She stopped him from committing Onan’s crime
by playing in reverse the role of Lot.

Reading list: I think this means Ciral’s mother had started reading the Old Testament.
Onan’s crime: Genesis 38:7-10.
Lot: Genesis 19:29-38.

©2010 Louis A. Merrimac

In the Next Life, Canto III, stanzas 195-199

Poor Ciral, with his aforementioned needs,
reverted to the outlet of his youth.
Don’t ask me to describe the hidden deeds.
As much as possible, let’s keep this couth.

He tried to put his energy to use
until some clear and definite event
might happen that would be a good excuse
to go back to his lover with consent.

His trade, I said, before he made this move
would sometimes take him near the city’s edge.
With methods he had learned and could improve,
an offshoot of the business made its fledge.

His sister, who had lived under the wing,
had suffered from a lack of exercise.
Now forced to help her brother do his thing,
the girl took on a much more healthy guise.

The mother kept the house, such as it were,
all by herself, and once when she was bored
she found a box that interested her.
Inside it was a literary hoard.

©2010 Louis A. Merrimac