Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Getting in Shape for Halloween


Lately I have started working out wearing the skull mask. Somehow it’s easier: because I always expected Death to be strong, to be painful and to be relentless. I sweat, but the sweat seems cold and condensed, like dew. In the moonlight my shadow seems like a dark spreading stain. Most of my exercise equipment is black anyway. I light a lot of candles. I drink water out of black Nalgene scented lightly with lily and dusted with ashes. I wish to starve my abs, so they appear beneath my tight skin, firm, like freshly patted down graves. I spread a black cloth over my weight bench when I am done so it looks like a catafalque. Other times, I go to gym and because of the placement of the mirrors, it looks like the others on the treadmills are running both away and towards Death.