The Gigantic Tomb

The Giant Tomb

Wandering around in an ancient castle

wrapped in a blanket made of itchiness-

a barefoot child searches for his family

but the halls made of cold stone are hollowed.

The wind sweeps motes in his eyes.

A piercing scream sounds as the air whistles

through the crevices like crying sirens.

The candelabras are unlit

but his eyes are adjusted to the darkness

enough to view the phantom holes where people

once stood roused and alive. 

Now no warm bodies pink

and dressed in vibrant dyes.

No platters of fresh cooking. 

No pattering of heels.

Not even an extra heartbeat.

Only the loud quietness of an empty fortress

unpeopled except for one-

when hundreds were like to roam before.

All types of riches from the world

still reside through every room.

A horde of gold and precious minerals

in the locked vault.  High art adorn

the nooks and walls.

faces and statues in repose

look on in a frozen facade

and become uncanny to his little eyes.

He cries and asks “Why?”

as his cheeks shine in salty tears

abandoned alone in an edifice

he once called home-

built for hundreds of servants

and a lordship of the highest rank and repute-

the youngest prince of a family

crowned with blessings and beloved.

But all have vanished in a blink.

He awoke from the terror of a silent dream

of drowning in the largest ocean

only to find himself wrapped

not in water but the softest cushions

and a bed mad for a giant.

Before he could utter a think

he found his favorite gray wool ‘blanky’ laid

on the floor, a measly cheap old thing

he could not sleep without.

Falling a foot to the bedside with a thud,

he lifted the dirty little thing as if it was a puppy.

The moon was high and already awake.

He wished to ask for some warm milk

and walked slowly to the doorknob.

The fires were all out and his maid

was not there to wait on him.

Nobody was there and throwing his gray ‘blanky’

on his shoulders he began his long trek

down the corridor and into every bedroom

knocking “Hello?” one after another only

to find himself filling up like a cup

full of sorrow and the horror of being

left inside the white towers upon the cliff

all by himself, the place of his birth

and whole life now feeling swallowed

by a gigantic maw of vacancy.

Quickly, he became lost inside the massive

castle wandering from place to place-

so big he hadn’t even seen a quarter

of the living rooms proper in his short

little life and in the night without a soul

to guide his hand, he no longer knew

this place he called his home-

now just a gigantic walled monster

full of ghosts, witches, and devils-

empty apparitions dancing in the shadows.

Never even seeing the world outside the gates-

so small and weak he tried to find a way out-

so that maybe he could find one-

just one of the friendly faces

jutting like a spear in his memory’s eye:

Mother, Father, Brother, Sister, Cousin, Uncle, Aunt;

close relatives now far away

someplace unknown or perhaps

just playing the worst game

of hide-and-seek without the fun

of finding or even worse maybe-

leaving him behind, forgetting him-

or worse even still-

leaving him there alone on purpose,

moving the party away

to another castle on a hill without

wanting him around and forever gone

they are happier without him.

Dejected, he crawls shivering toward

the next emptiness and howls at

the pain like an animal.

Reliving bright past moments of yesterday

going backwards to the first

while physically moving forward

and each passing second another enormous

lonely pill to swallow.  Nothing happens.

No one comes to say “You found me!”

from behind the curtains or underneath

the tables and no matter how much further

he gets within the abode laden with riches-

he feels like a poor beggar asking

for a penny, just a penny and nothing more. 

He never reaches the exit.

None enter to say hello.

Eventually he finds the bowels-

the catacombs below-

ancestors buried in marble slabs-

people he heard about but never knew.

He thinks “Was I asleep for ages?”

And imagines everyone has died in the world. 

No light whatsoever

in the realm of the entombed

as he reaches around to find grave

faces of the likenesses of his genetic pool.

He finally reaches a small

rectangular receptacle fitting

His length and width. 

Sucking his thumb,

he lies down, bunches ‘blanky’ into

a pillow and falls asleep.

No longer worrying if he is still

alive for in a world alone is like

death and dying is a boon.