Life? Poem by Jenna W. Chryste

My eyes open
only to find
an unfamiliar setting.

I look around
taking in the rubbish
strewn across the floor.

Sensing a change
in the darkness
I know mine eyes hath adjusted.

When suddenly
something catches mine eye -
a drawer.

But ‘twas not the drawer itself -
‘twas an object with sunlight
glinting off it's golden armor.

Taken over by curiosity
I rise
Knowing what must be done.

Tiptoeing closer to the drawer
a wooden floorboard
creaks beneath my weight.

I stop
frozen with fear
my heart racing.

Hearing no threat
I draw nearer
to this mysterious object.

When suddenly
without warning
I fall through the ground.

I scream
knowing in mine head
I cannot be heard.

Although I await
a most certain death
none cometh.

I just keep falling
and falling
and falling.

Until suddenly
I feel something
in mine hand.

‘Twas the golden item
I had gone to fetch -
‘twas still shining.

How odd,
I thought unto myself,
for there is no sunlight.

Then and there
I cautiously unfurl
mine hand.

Being as stupid as I am
I forget I am still falling.

Out it goes
flying away
from mine grasping reach.

It twists
and turns
writhing in gravity's hands.

I then see
what the mysterious object is -
not a key, not a coin, but a turtle.

Soon
this marvelous treasure
is lost to me.

It is lost
in the darkness
as am I.