The Hollow

The Hollow by James Menendez. Found within the dreaming darkened hollow there my soul was hearkened, and my eagerness uplifted to the sky, and there it stayed. Full of beasts and demons chanting, although angels there were planting plants which all but sifted through my mind and there belayed. Far beneath the creeping shaded canopy my heart elated, though my countenance disfigured with closed eyes and tongue allayed. Further in the woods I hither, darkened ancient trees unwithered, carrion did crawl and slither through the undergrowth decayed. Furtively I pressed on deeper, longing to destroy the sleeper, but no matter how I labored, inactivity remained. Fiendishly I vainly squandered, hopelessly bereft I wandered through the ancient woods of folly on my powerless crusade. Fruitlessly I had consulted arcane tomes of truth occulted, authored by Prevaricator's literary masquerade. Foolish acts they were in hindsight, incantations by the moonlight Lied dark and serious deeds in secret, constituents of my charade. Facilitating my undoing by the lie I was pursuing, divinity was cast asunder. Sadness swallowed me, waylaid. Frightfully the woods contracted in around me, soul detracted, limb and vine and branch constricted in a perfect barricade. From my black immobile prison, fear inside me had arisen. Deep into the darkness, all these sorrows laid my soul to shade. Fervently I prayed for freedom from this labyrinth of reason, but in truth I was completely impotent to foster change. Yet, from beyond the wooden prison, through vines which obscured my vision, a light appeared to glow before me just beyond the palisade. Faintly it began to strengthen and, beyond my comprehension, bring relief to ease the tension and free me from the dark stockade. From this light I found redemption, sacrifice for my transgressions. Grace exceeds all comprehension for my dark deeds The debt is paid. For within the dreaming darkened hollow there my soul was hearkened, and my eagerness uplifted to the sky, and there it stayed.