There was only one time when
The ground under my feet didn’t feel
Solid. I was treading water on dry land.
Grass wasn’t grass, merely cool water
Sweeping across my feet.
I sank into the ground, delving just
Beneath the surface, before plunging
Headlong into the land.
I could just swim and swim through
The earth, and never hit the bottom.
Honeyed sunshine would ripple down
Toward me, spilling warm, glowing
Rays on my skin.

Of course, the stiff, rocky underbelly
Of the world showed itself to me in
No short order. I had to come up to take
Just one gasp of a breath, and all at once
It was gone. I’d gotten nothing but a
Perplexing taste of beauty and happiness.
The ground once more took shape
And refused to show me that place
I had only seconds ago escaped to.

You can’t ever reach
The afterlife without taking an excursion
Into the realm of Hades.
I spent so long hunting for that place
Where I wasn’t sure how I could have
Possibly gotten so lost.

Because no matter how many times
You think you’ve found that treasure map,
And sit there waiting for the ground
To melt away like before--
Time has simply been wasted.

I was given only a moment of
Bliss, the rest I should have made
For myself.