Australian Ancient Depths of Time

Australian Ancient Depths Of Time Under deserts rusting tides of red Mountains once collapsed themselves into the clay Became flat lands stilted while sun hung ornate on the humble quiet Beauty remained unobserved, unobstructed, ageless At this point in time my team and I, consisting of two guides Walked gently along soft earth near a simple gorge Mules and archaeological tools fell through to darkness Deep in the hole one man tumbled, crippled, died The mules too met an ugly fate as well My other man and I survived Crawled for hours through a narrow passage in the underworld In the labyrinth of black, accompanied by barely breathable air Fear and hunger took hold Our mental faculties began to fail With no way out, we struggled on By quirk or chance we happened on an open chamber To stand, to glance, to reconnoiter an unknown civilization Covered by time, embraced by centuries safe keeping Thick vases found in sandy walls housed oils I had matches and some rope to light our way at last Other vases filled with beans and herbs unearthed by us Treasures to save us from starvation! Olive oils tasted nasty, black beans were worse But Australia’s hidden depths were fascinating finds We tied ropes around our new supplies, dragged them behind The maze, the cave, gave us many bones and pottery for exploration We hope the ancients will forgive us for eating all their food I think they no longer need it in the tomb 8/28/14 Contest - poem you have not entered in a past contest # 11