Thomas Disch

Another dark poem from Mr Disch, talking about a very scary bardo.

Sign at the Golden Gate

Each peach you eat reduces the time
you must serve in Paradise. There
there can be no escape from the retributive
justice of pleasure visited upon pleasure
forever and ever. The same pleasures
that were your undoing here will plague
you eternally. You'll have your plate
heaped with All You Can Eat! You'll hate
your enemies and batter them senseless,
and they'll return, hungry for more.
You'll throw up all you ate and see
your plate heaped high again, forever
unsated. You'll never read a book or see
a movie that might depress you, no Antonioni,
only upbeat anime, stories about ponies
who win every race they enter,
but at the same time you'll think
you are so smart your brain is scudding
through the sky, another form of cumulus.
No intelligence enormous as yours.
You will keep returning to that casino
and its long, mirrored gallery
of jackpots, eternally deluded.

Reminds me of the Twilight Zone episode “A Nice Place to Visit.”