Hieronymus Bosch Finds Himself Unable to Sleep, by Marjory Woodfield

The Last Judgement, by Hieronymus Bosch (Netherlands) c. 1482

Hieronymus Bosch Finds Himself Unable to Sleep

He walks through the landscape of his dreams. Lucifer 
is falling 
               the town engulfed in flames. 
 
The River Dommel is gray and fast. He asks the question -
is humankind beyond redemption - but cannot find the answer. 
 
In the devil’s kitchen a toad wears a nun’s habit. A sinner,
chopped into small pieces, sizzles in her frying pan. Another 

slowly roasts over a spit. There is a fruit press and grindstone. 
                            One hand escapes. 
 
He follows the path of the river, crosses a bridge. Hears his
children calling. The air is full of the breath of dragons.

Marjory Woodfield

Marjory Woodfield is a New Zealand teacher and writer. She’s been published by the BBC, Mudlark, Orbis, The Pomegranate London,  The Ekphrastic Review and others. She's won the New Zealand Robert Burns Competition, and been placed in the Hippocrates Poetry Awards Yeovil, Ver and John McGivering writing competitions. She's currently recipient of a Cinnamon Press mentoring bursary and winner of the 2021 Flash Frontier Winter Writing Award.