10. Cave of Giants

(Tendi)

Into the wood and down through hell

Begins a journey where they dwell

Inside the earth, for legends tell

Of giants living underground.

For in all legends lies the truth,

At least a piece of it, in sooth,

Amidst the many lies uncouth

Spoken about and spread around.

So anyway, my friends and I

Went caving in age-old Shanghai

Where even locals testify

To never go beneath the ground.

But we were stupid tourists then;

Not listening to Mr. Chen,

We ventured to the narrow glen

Where they were rumored to be found.

We spent all day just getting there

And camped outside giants' lair,

The entrance cave beyond compare—

So huge it should be more renowned.

So overnight we slept inside

Our knapsacks in the countryside,

Where nighttime silences belied

The giants sleeping in the background.

At morning we unpacked our camp

Ere going on our daytime scamp

Into the darkness with our lamp

Lighting our way into the foreground.

Through massive halls of stalactite

And over floors of stalagmite,

We journeyed through the endless night

Of the giants' hidden playground.

Deeper and deeper through the cave,

We journeyed through the deep concave

Surroundings of our living grave,

When we all heard a breathing sound.

We saw an opening right where

We heard the breathing in the air,

Peering into the giants' lair,

Feeling our heartbeats' constant pound.

I turned my flashlight on and aimed

The beam into the darkness; framed

Inside the dark, two eyes inflamed

With rage peered out and looked around.

We all hightailed our asses then

Out of the cavern darkness when

We heard the breathing air again,

Followed by shaking in the ground.

Running and stumbling through the dark,

We heard a roar break through the stark

Stillness, from which the legends mark

The giants' raging underground.

Out of the entrance, we began

Our scramble through the narrow span

Of glen, until we reached our van

And drove away, now airport-bound.

We'll never go back to that place

Where giants lurk without a trace

Within dark caverns as a race,

Waiting there still until they're found.

So when you make your cavern trips,

Listen to locals and their tips

And warnings from their speaking lips—

Sometimes it's best to turn around.

FINISH