Wednesday, April 7, 2010

The Hole

He stepped into his sandbox
Just before the crack of dawn
A young spelunker in pajamas
Rubbed his eyes and gave a yawn

He tied a coil of knotted rope
Tightly 'round an old oak tree
He donned a backpack full of snacks
And he gazed down at destiny

And then he knelt and started digging
With a silver serving spoon
That he had taken from the kitchen drawer
The previous afternoon

He tossed the sand over his shoulder
As he made a boy-sized dent
In the bottom of his sandbox
Down and down and down it went

And after only half an hour
He had disappeared from sight
He was deep inside his tunnel
Heaving dirt with all his might

He dug a shaft into the darkness
Carved a hole that plunged straight down
He dug through dirt and rocks and clay
As he dug deeper underground

He dug past long forgotten artifacts
Cast off by early man
He dug through fossilized remains
Of dinosaurs and ancient lands

He dug past sedimentary layers
And through igneous ones, too
He broke right through the Earth's thin outer crust
By early afternoon

He made quick work of the soft mantle
Although his arm was getting sore
He just kept digging with that silver spoon
Until he reached the core

And at the center of the Earth
He paused to eat a little snack
He drank some juice and then continued
His unstoppable attack

He just kept digging, digging deeper
Burrowing through the world wide
He planned to dig right through the planet
And break through the other side

Surely no hole was ever deeper
It was really quite a sight
When he looked up through his handiwork
He saw a speck of light

But when he finally reached the bottom
As he neared the last few feet
He heard those dreaded words call down the hole
"Young man, it's time to eat!"

3 comments:

  1. I could picture the whole story, even the mom calling down the hole! Great writing, wonderful word pictures! I am so proud of you!
    Mom

    ReplyDelete
  2. I could picture the whole story, great poem, wonderful word pictures. I am so proud of you!
    Mom

    ReplyDelete