POETRY

Up I Well

Inside the well, I wait.

Image by CDD20 - Pixabay.

Inside the well,
I wait
For the next bucket to dip.
I keep biting the rope,
Spilling water and placing stones.
I keep swallowing myself;
In my depth, I fear the seal of cement.

Inside the well,
I wait
For the next bucket to lift me up.
I keep slipping through the cracks;
It keeps missing.
It carries the dirt and spills me
Back into the guts.

Inside the well,
I wait.
Not a sliver of silver
Beams at my face.
There is no moon
To command the tides,
No wind to give me sound.

Inside the well,
I keep a flock of shivering nightingales.
Inside the well,
I keep a ring of sleeping Titan moons.
For eternity, I have imprisoned them;
For eternity, they have waited
For my tides to rise.