Monte's Inferno

There is a classic piece of literature called Dante's Inferno where it describes the 7 layers of hell. I wrote a poem of a modern day BYU version of the same story. In this there are 5 levels of hell with each one getting progessively worse. The levels are 1. Texting in Class 2. Having a Beard in the Testing Center 3. Bad Driving 4. Drugs and 5. Lusting.

Monte's Inferno

Tyler Smith

Monte woke and looked around at a place he had never seen,

Ahead of him was a path with a sign labeled, "Hell for everyone mean"

He was caught by surprise, "What have I done, to deserve a fate like this?"

"Just open your eyes" said a man who passed by, "You'll see all the things that you missed."

He looked to his right, the man had been right, as a scene began to unfold,

of a time back in school, where young Monte knew, better because he was told,

but still disregarded the warnings and started to pull out his fancy new phone,

He completely ignored, and acted quite bored, as he scrolled through some pictures of stone,

Just then a vibration, he felt, without patience, he reached to see what it was,

but there was nothing there, just some lint and a hair, and a note that said, "because...

you wasted your time, and that scholarship's dime, by always checking your phone,

you'll feel phantom vibrations, throughout all five stations, and the nothing will cause you to moan,

Monte hung his head, his heart was filled with dread, it was right, that is what he had done,

then he walked up the path, to experience more wrath, he could tell this wouldn't be fun,

Now this might seem weird, but next he saw a beard, on his face as he attempted a test,

The Honor Code does say, that all students must shave, and look their very best,

And he hadn't this time, so he must pay for his crime, by drawing a circle with chalk,

"You may never leave" said the assistant named Steve, this circle dictates where you walk,

With a sigh and a shrug, Monte stood there till he felt a tug, the circle was starting to leave,

"I guess I must go" He said, then walked slow, as the path began to weave,

Bad driving was next, honk, swerve, cut off, or text, all were equally bad,

what made it worse, was this time the curse, was traffic with all the granddads,

bumper to bumper, in an old beat up clunker, forever as he drove up the way,

"What else did I do, I don't have a clue, of all the ways that I stray."

Sure enough there was more, that caused tears, blood and gore, as Monte approached the next stop,

The scene that played out, caused him to shout, as he got handcuffed by a cop,

"You have the right to remain silent, and do not be violent, you're arrested for all of these drugs...

"Yeah, you, you, and you, you know what to do, quit hanging around all these thugs."

 

He said, "For the next million years, all you can hear, is music by Kenny G,

And then once that's done, after a million and one, you'll only hear music from me."

The officer sang, Monte's ears rang, this was going to be a terrible thing,

But it was bound to get worse, his bubble was burst, the next one was sure to sting,

Lusting is a sin, where nobody can win, and alas Monte had fault,

For this his eyes were pried open, and cleaned out with soap'n just a tiny dash of salt,

"I'll never again, commit any type of sin, just please find in your heart to forgive.

"I'll work hard to serve, I give you my word, my life is yours to give."

He didn't know if anyone would hear, because they weren't near, but he poured out his soul in a prayer,

Then in a blink of an eye, Monte didn't know why, or who, how, what, when or where,

But he was back, once again, among living men, he knew he had been given a shot,

to change all his ways, he knelt down to pray, to be grateful for all that he got,

And then from that day, Monte lived in a way, that any mom would be proud of her son,

From texting in class, beards, bad driving, alas, drugs, and lusting were gone,

Instead service and love, and all good things above, were all things that Monte would do,

So when he was dead, he would know in his head, that his old self was replaced by the new.