and nothing to show for it all

one ruddy penny for one stinkin eye
a blighter bound for hades with half the price of admission
cast below the wet rock in soggy midsummer
and lifted from the damp barn-hay in afternoon wallow-times
nicked a pumpernickel from the jack o' lantern store owned by Muddy Joe,
and pilfered an old oil lamp from the soldiers' co-op to light my path
down the cavern way...
took the side road in, paved my way with bread crumbs for the hunger backtrack
but once in, I knew I would never stop.
Halfway to hell on half a loaf of stomached rye, deep humid breaths smelling of underground lakes wafted noseward
I walked in my shadow all along
Passed the doors carved by women long past, each leading off to a realm of unknowable colour and rage,
up and down the rocky staircases pretending to be natural,
along the throbbing vein of the cave that knew so much time.
sleep and dreams merged with conscious musings,
no difference no more anyhow.
I ate the rocks as the months passed, my insides craving for the gravelly warmth of stones,
i became one, my jaw set, my eyes hard, my chest solid,
growled my way into ancient philosophies,
and then the lights became clear.
Wonder why I didn't notice them before.