Stay,
digging
and digging.

The rocks are sharp
and tear away at skin
until rawness
sets into the muscles.

The air is too thin
to fill the lungs to send the spark
that jolt bones into action.

Blacker and blacker.

Climb up?

The tunnel has turned and twisted, the way back,
collapsed because the structure wasn't strong enough
in the first place.

The new landing point is unfamiliar.
The darkness, however, is an old friend.