Chapter 86
I sank into a chaos of brief, incoherent
And bizarre hallucinations, in which the grotesque
And the horrible kept close company. Prostrate,
As if I were being garrotted by invisible cords,
I floundered in anguish and dread,
Oppressively ridden by the most unbridled nightmares.
.
― Jean Lorrain, Monsieur De Phocas
.
MIKHAIL
I shuffle one foot in front of the other in mind numbing sameness, mindful to keep the constellation they call Damkianna, the 'Wagon of Heaven,' on my right shoulder as the handle points to this planet's pole star. Marwan was right. The second half of the bādiyat ash-shām is even worse than the first. Nobody looks at me funny when I begin to talk to the demons which haunt my nightmares. We all battle our individual demons. We talk to them like they
