descent-1

I. Downs

lifeless Hills, drowned in Shroud
                   confuse the path,
                   blind the Eye
until the Lost should Cry
                                    Aloud,
unheard within the bath of Fog.
and Then
                 beneath the wandering feet
                 a valley Falls
                                   Away,
                 crater Walls dropping steep
as though into the Break of day.
A        Path      Leads     There.

II. Sunset

descending into Mystery,
            crimson, like Sunset clouds,
            yet without the Touch of Sun.
Glow comes from
                                      Beneath
                            like Fallen Angel pride,
                                                 feeling ancient
                            like History Forgotten long ago:
beneath the narrow Way,
coming from
    Mists below.
red-gold Glow flows from Shroud
                          confuses the mind,
                          blinds the Eye as it looks
                                     to find
                                                the Source.
             Wonder Grows as traveler Looks,
absorbing Beauty
as it goes down the winding Course.
yet somehow,
                             nothing can be seen.
until at last, a Floor appears --
        no! not a floor, a Roof -- of Trees!
        so dark as to be nearly Black.
                                                not Green.
                    no Thought now of Turning Back,
though one Doubts the Truth of what one Sees.
The          Path          Leads         On.

III. Vault

the swelling Blackness of the Green
          rises
                  Higher
                              above the Path
                                         the Eye,
          until the leaves become
a leafy screen hiding the Fire
                    that had lit the Path,
                                blinded the Eye
           as it shone unfiltered from the Shroud.
still just enough Light to See
          the downward Way,
                       winding ledge
that Falls among the Trees
          with branches Arching High
          like a Cathedral’s vaulted Ribs
          hanging over the downward Trail.
                      Pillar-trunks,
                      filtered Light,
                      Ceiling proud,
                                          holding Sky.
and then Below,
          like oft-sought Grail, the Ground:
covered in Moss,
                Dew,
                Shadows wrapping around the Roots
distant still.
The          Path          Leads        Down.