Below the Land

The raging torrent comes for me again,
A wild avalanche of razor sharp lines
With fever and sickness crawling through
My legs and my arms, a fire drawing
From somewhere deep within,
My heart ready to burst at the fear
That it’s far too much to ever contain.

Please let it stop, let the underground waters
Keep me far from the hot flames
That rapture at the edges of my mind
And fly far out beyond who I am,
Threatening to drive out past my fingertips
And toward those I care for on the shore
Here in the torch-lit cavern below the land.

And yet, this is who I must become,
Alone to the rest of the world who can’t
Ever know these tremors that carry me
Out past who I’ve ever been before now—
This is my strength and my ability,
To light up the sky with fire
Or to drain it all down to finest point.

Tie it off, hold on to the sour fire
Until it stops and turns to strength,
As the water cools and calms and radiates
Away the worst of the heat and fear,
So now the water is under my control
Along with the joy of this whole world
Here in the torch-lit cavern below the land.

_____________________
With the release of every chapter of Below the Land, I will be posting a companion poem. This is the poem related to Chapter 27.