Split
To travel not knowing what may be found
Is the joy, the promise, the hope
Of those who journey open-minded
Delighted by what turns up
The more unexpected, so much the better
But the sudden chasming of the Earth
The falling away of land
The breaking of ground
Its sharp, precipitous edge
Forming a vertiginous rim
Looking over into the stomach-churning void
To the deepest valley bottom
Far, far below the vantage point
Almost beyond the power of the naked eye
Is still the greatest shock
And is a glory indescribable
A level, monotonous landscape
Fools to deceive
And carries no warning
That it conceals within its folds a feature
A whole mountain range of rock
That simply isn’t there
A massive hole of empty space
An accident of geology
In its prehistoric making
A crack, a gash, a split
A weather-riven wedge
A canyon crack in the planet’s crust
A trench of impossible scale
That seduces the senses
Its blues and greys shimmering
A shifting drift of haze
Making a mist of distance
Belying its terrible depth
Down, down into the abyss
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