In my infancy I walked the forest paths
My footprints trod the virgin snow
As I was mauled by unending blizzards
Blind and alone
With knees and elbows
Nails, teeth and viscera
I made my way
Beset by storms
Through screaming chasms I ventured
Into the winding caves I chased warmth
The atrium opened before me
Revealing a palace of ice and stone
Of fire, flesh and timber
Alien yet familiar
Halls sprawling off to endlessness
Lined with talismans and amulets
I struggle to walk their length
But I must
After each failed step I summoned another
All at once I was well
The cold not longer beat at my chest
My back writing upward
I stood tall and strong
And with each golden trinket and ornament
I marched faster onwards
Clawing at my feet
They came
Tearing through splintered oaken floors
I fell for eternity
Dragged by sinewy fingers
The skin of my face
Torn off by the stone walls of the pit
As I descended
Screams reverberated in the deep
The earth crumbled under my fall
Dust revealed my destination
This place
Where men are conjured by cheap incantations
Where all questions are answered
And all journeys are at an end
The walls of this foul crevasse
Stained with the blood of climbers
Pulled apart by those who speak hollow words
And tell of the nothingness beyond this place