Base Camp

I know this place

This space, my landing

After that familiar fall

Towards the silence

Of my enduring cell

I’ve been here before

Closed and still

Neither weather, wind nor time

Can break the seal

Of this, my dead centre

I took a leap of faith

Aimed for the middle

Somewhere but I couldn’t hold

On, I lost my grip

Claws not sharp enough for life

On these my walls

Familiar prints of what I know

Mistakes repeated in the pattern

And the blankness of yet

Base camp, my eternal vault

Hopes and dreams are fishes

They swim in circles, glint

Little sparks to fire me up

But they cannot live beyond

The waters of my mind’s eye

And blankets all around

Embroidered with my checks

Conceal unblinking mirrors

Which stare reflections

Strong enough to open scars

In this my shell, my cell

From which I first awoke

Is now my hide

Nobody comes inside

But it’s dark, it’s so dark