Feldspar

Between the rock formations
that have undergone diagenesis,
I breathe the lamentations of purgatory.

The terrible mesas proceed
into various states of invisibility
from every possible vantage point.

Tyrannized by aridity,
an abundance of absence
sings the song of extinction.

The alluvial surface,
crowned by bright sunlessness –
the horizon is a hue
for which there is no apparent referent
in reality –

The sand gives no indication
of its subterranean passageways –
perhaps artificial? – perhaps not –
only incidentally labyrinthine,
an accident of lithifaction? –

The gradient of the pit
is far too steep for me to climb out:
the adrenaline response of an organism
with a self-preservation drive
delivers me into the thrall of chest pains.

There is nothing but extinction here.
Yet, have I felt the presence of others?
At least peripherally? –

Beneath the infinite desert,
there is a thing that should not exist –
There has to be a way out –

Running my hand along sedimentary corridors,
partially composed of feldspar? –
Oh God Oh God please just let me out

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