No inscribed gate,
no emblazoned doors,
no Charon with his flowing stream,
just flashes of light and gloom
and fading memories of those I once loved…
And, somewhere in the depths,
growing steadily,
a vibration,
a soundless wave,
colors moving beyond the prism,
whispers rising in the guttural language of eternity.
-- Scott Ortolano is an English professor at Florida SouthWestern State College. He has previously published critical work in The Explicator, The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review, and the South Atlantic Review and creative writing in Across The Margin and The Hoolet’s Nook. He has spent his life in Southwest Florida, and his writing is driven by a deep sense of love and concern for a world and region undergoing great waves of change. Follow him on Bluesky at @floridasnow.bsky.social and Instagram at florida_snow_. More of his work is available at www.SOrtolano.com.