Listen to it growing

Like a smoky cloud,

Quickening and slowing....

Have you said the word aloud,

Or thought it without knowing?

Say many words, cry wildly,

Insist,, and shout

In the vastness of this cave.

The dark will echo for a moment mildly,

Then patient silence, grave

Like some old hill,

Will keep on being still.

Rub your eyes.

Behold - to your surprise -

Colors, shifting, brightening,

Purple and dusky rose

And threads of golden lightning.

Now fold your hands before you

And feel your fingers change

To far away, to thinner than a stick;

Yet that is not so strange

As to find them hideously thick

And heavy, swollen over-size,

The dark is playing you a trick.

Open both your eyes!