Beyond the crevice

crevice, cracked stone
the earth pulling up its
skirt to lure wanderers
into its unknown depths

shadow hugs tightly
the rocky innards of
hollowed chamber, of
time-eaten space

room meager and low
unless fungus would
shrink a body to vermin
size, a then be castle

in that smaller stature
one would have the key
to the tiny door hidden
at the back of the space

a darker shadow awaits
just beyond that hatch
pouring further into stone
into the lost and suppressed

slithers the craggy tunnel
where serpentine jolts had
hewn their cryptic trails
during primeval wanderings

they, the squids of soil
with their timeless striking
tentacle reach, have left
this path, this beaten course

which turns to take to
trick what's lost, what's
left in the deep, dank,
dismal dark abode of these

and heat and cold swirl
into each passage, after
every twist the path lays
in front of searching souls

and toes are eager to recede
for relation of a corpse state
sinks in suddenly, yet pursuit
whips the feet further on

darkness lightens to green
phosphorescent glow, a dream
tucked within a nightmare or
what else dwells in this hell

moist minerals merge with
stark life of fungi fire light
an eerie calm in the heart
of suspense and silent secrets

relief, be it brief, in glowing
walls, 'til dismal light exposes
movement just out of sight
beyond the reach of green

further down another way
past clusters of the fungus
reflections blink not once,
nor twice, but many are they

pulse echoes in the ears
in the muffled corridors of
forgotten silence, breath
halts, clutching the instant

movement shatters the ease
of the minute light, surge of
despair strikes in the rush of
shrieks and blinking reflections