They had put violets in my room

When I returned from the hospital

And mistakenly took six tablets in one dose

Having discharged myself far too soon

Fearful of missing my flight

And mindful of my mother’s fright

And while I didn’t die

I came exceptionally close

Even after having out-run the ghost

Who has chased me, unseen, through the tunnels of Derinkuyu –

Underground city – hell – both

Running at break-neck speeds I had never known

I had the capacity for

Defying the guide

Who told me under no circumstances must I deviate

From the course

Divined by himself and his expert team –

He’d lied

It became a necessity

And though I did not know the maze of chambers deep underground

It is my belief that I was found

By a far more powerful guide

And brought back to the light

While it would have made sense for me to have been irretrievably lost

I knew I had to escape whatever the cost

And together – me and my spirit guide –

This is what we achieved.

.

Furious at my survival they had tried next

To conquer me with thunder and poison

Issued via a venomous bite

And blue lipped I had been placed in an ambulance

Blood pressure dragging me down with it into a trance

Back down to a level under the surface

Inches from Hell without having earned it.

 

(The violet, I learned later, is a mediator between Heaven and Earth –

A symbol known to bring balance)