We Live in a Cave

Have you lost your way now that the daylight’s snuffed, beyond one field too
many, past plots best left
uncrossed? Is that our light you see blinking from the bend, the lure of camp
spit smoking—have you
found our cave? We came all this way and left all we were, to find ourselves
new. Reborn, we are new!
We live in a cave. (In her dark we are new.)
Do you spy our shadows dancing on the rocks? Nude, we leap the flames and chant
the wordless songs.
You later find the tunnel where we snore in piles like animals; you tiptoe but
fail to see me smile. You
came all this way. Forget who you were. Find yourself new. Reborn, you are new!
We live in a cave. (In
her dark we are new.)
Surprise! You hear the cackling—my wives have blocked the path. Still,
you fight the groping tide of
hands that pull you back. Can you see the cave mouth? Or have you shut your
eyes? It’s dawning pink
out there, that birdsong bids farewell. We live in a cave. (In her dark we are
new.) You live in a cave.