I’ve been writing quite a bit of fiction lately, and reading a lot of my old writing. In my browsing I found this old poem. I thought I’d share it!

I wrote it as a reflection of a long ago family trip to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. I would share a picture, but it would not do it justice. Much like the Grand Canyon, there are some places that do not translate completely accurately into photos.

Cathedral

Silence of summer heat melts into echoes and darkness.
Engines roar,
Metal clanks,
Water drips.
Helmets with little lights
Deck the heads of Dad and I.
Holding hands through slippery ground.

Brother stands close
Through narrow passages,
Twisting paths.
Passing pits,
Abandoned buckets,
Decaying planks of wood.
Spooky stories of cave ins,
Dead men,
Hopes dashed,
Treasures never reached,
Or beyond their grasp.

Metal pathways lead deeper down and in.
Dad quotes, “Further up and further in!”
Mystery awaits.
Claustrophobic pressure 
Mix with angsty pre-teen moods.
Misery and fear.
Selfishness not unlike the old prospectors.

Sudden openness,
Echoing louder,
Father and deeper,
Higher and wider.
Stone rippling like waves,
Stumps of hardened water
Standing like men.
Cavernous cathedral
Cold, dark, deep, and vast.

It was a spooky, awe-inspiring trip for pre-teen me, if you can’t tell!

Soli Deo Gloria