Stalactites

I wander through this cave
Feeling my way along rocky walls,
Holding my tongue under stalactites
In hopes of just one drop
To wet my thirst.

Pebbles underfoot cause me to stumble;
Each passageway looks the same,
This maze a dizzying catacomb
Of similarities with great differences,
Choose blindly and become hopelessly lost

Darkness closes in around me,
An ominous weight pressing hard
Against my back
Pushing me forward against the wall
Of nothingness keeping me back

I would welcome the screech of bats
If they would but guide me
Through this labyrinth
With little more than scraped knees
But their silence taunts me

My own breath echoes around my ears
Bouncing off the rocks,
Words boomerang back in all directions
But I cannot catch them
—I never was very good at baseball.



Janet Reid
march 2008