You've never been there, have you?

    Imagine a cave, some miles deep—
    A mental cage, not unlike sleep.
    
    

    Search for the sky, so dim and distant
    That stars escape the strongest visions.
    
    See shadows trick across the walls
    As Life would, too, in Death's great halls.
    
            Now eyes adjust and freely roam,
        Accept the filth of your new home.
    
    Catch walls, cold comfort, come crashing down
    As acid pools across the ground
    
    Repulse the waves of sulfur, dripping,
        Promising that you'll only suffer while living;
        That crash cork-screw across your throat:
            "Untap the seas! Escape afloat!"
    
    Drift along through dreamy daze
Until a breeze dips far astray
    And carries whispers from past lives, 
    Reminders of a world outside.
    
    Strangle these winds that carry scenes
        Of moonlit doves in myrtle trees;
    You've learned by now, Life's breath is loaned—
    Delusions of warmth in the frigid cave stone.

Any feedback is welcome!

• thoughts on "this cave's frigid stone"

Alternate title: "Close Your Eyes."

edits:

• "as acid seeps into the ground" -> "as acid pools across the ground"

• "take in the filth" -> "accept the filth"

• "this cave's frigid stone" -> "the frigid cave stone"

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