Carol’s Poetry Cavern
International Year of Caves and Karst Event
December 19, 2021
View whole International Year of Caves and Karst Event here:
Angels of the Underworld
We moved through water with our arms, our feet floating above stone. We were angels of the underworld, out to save no one but ourselves. Our mission was to know the cave, like the sun knows a cicada that has climbed a tree. The spiders leaned in to whisper us onwards, their stories carried over murky water. We gathered in a circle and switched off our lights. It was dark again, like the beginning of time. And we were made new through filth.
Shh! Close your mouth and turn off your eyes. Listen with the place in you that no one will recognize. There are footsteps above the ground. They cannot hear you anymore. And you, you have no idea who is grazing in the grass. You are too lowly to be human, and too bony to be a snake. But the cave is patient with you, seeing that you are covered in slime. And the glow in your eyes when a tiny light hits the water, well, that is enough to betray any mission.
Carol Krause 