The Cool Summer Cavern

Yearly venture into the earth

Cool, damp clay underfoot. Sharp, jagged juts of hard rock above. Miles of smooth, rounded walls ahead. Serpentine tunnels, carved by once-flowing lava, twist through the earth, remaining close enough to the surface that the sun occasionally breaches through the supreme darkness deep within. Bring a flashlight, say the signs above. Yet, I crave the kind of darkness that can only be found in caves - in this cave, especially Mammoth Cave, the sanctuary of all sanctuaries.

Walking into the wide mouth of Mammoth, stepping on its uneven, square, calcified teeth, and crawling beneath low tonsils, I venture through its open throat and am consumed by its cold, musty breath. Once deeper into its belly, I turn off the light and bask. I breathe. I lay on the cold floor, close my eyes to shutter any lingering light, and allow my thoughts to wander here where the darkness dwells. Minutes pass in hours, each moment stretching into timelessness.

When time resumes, I must crawl out the same way I enter, for there is no exit from this eternity. For now, I bask. I breathe.