1
I alluded capture so easily
Since a child I had ventured along the passageways
and formed a mental picture of that labyrinth
Because I knew there would come that need
My warning to all the others had been ignored for many years
But my insight proved deadly in the end for those who refused to heed my dreams
The assassins came while we slept
I was ready and escaped
My pursuers unable to follow me
as I made my way down, down ... into the ancient passageways
Places only I had visited
Areas overgrown; entrances not seen
Torches had failed to penetrate that darkness
Too many minds succumbed to fear
But not I
for I knew what lay there
Safety
My future
So when that fateful night came
I was ready
I was fearless as I made my silent escape
It was later I cried for all the others who I left behind
who will have been murdered by assassin’s blade
2
Fresh air blowing cold from a branch in the tunnel made me decide
I was no longer lost
I knew when it grew lighter I had escaped
I found myself in a place I had never before beheld
A temple in stone with altar
and dust covered candles and pillars
and hidden gold
A place of magic
A place of ancient doom
For within a pile of its treasures I discovered human bones
Skulls with drilled holes and shackles
I did not like the signs
My instinct warned and I knew to leave the place
A brickwall had been built to prevent access to the tomb
The mortar weak with age
With ease I brought the barricade crashing down
I came out on a high hillside
within a mountain range
at my feet an overgrown path lead my down to a valley floor
after many twists and turns
I was safe
I was laden with ancient gold
My passage to other parts of the world
Aware I may be the only one who had survived
Determined then was I to record our history
for I knew from my learning with the elders
those who demanded our deaths
would have destroyed all trace of our lives
and would have written a version of events more suited to their means
So it was up to I to keep a written testament of who and what we were
for a time when my voice could be heard
If ever ..............
Matthew James Friday, 28 June 2002
