Silent Descent

In the realm where light fears to tread,
Where darkness reigns and hope seems dead,
A journey starts, both deep and long,
A silent descent, where shadows throng.

The surface world fades from view,
As we plunge into depths so blue,
Then indigo, then inky black,
No turning now, no going back.

Pressure builds with every foot,
Our mortal forms no longer suit,
The world we’ve entered, strange and cold,
Where mysteries both new and old

Lie waiting in the lightless deep,
Their secrets locked in endless sleep,
Until our presence stirs the gloom,
And brings to life this liquid tomb.

Bubbles rise like silent screams,
Distorting light in eerie beams,
That flicker, fade, then disappear,
Leaving us alone with fear.

The silence here is deafening,
A quiet both soothing and maddening,
Broken only by our heart’s loud beat,
And blood that rushes, a rhythmic feat.

As we descend through watery night,
Our senses strain in absent light,
To catch a glimpse, to hear a sound,
Of life that in these depths abounds.

Bioluminescence starts to glow,
Creatures strange begin to show,
Their forms bizarre, unearthly, weird,
Evolved in ways we’ve never feared.

Lanternfish with gaping jaws,
And vampire squids with crimson claws,
Anglerfish with haunting lures,
Tempt the unwary to their moors.

Jellyfish pulse like living stars,
Their tendrils trailing near and far,
While giant squid, elusive, vast,
Glide by, silent shadows cast.

In this realm of endless night,
Where pressure crushes, holds us tight,
We’re reminded of our mortal state,
How fragile life, how fickle fate.

Yet still we venture ever down,
Past coral forests, long since brown,
Their branches reaching through the murk,
Where life and death together lurk.

The ocean floor, a desert strange,
Of silt and sand in endless range,
Marked by vents where earth’s blood seeps,
Nurturing life in thermal deeps.

Tube worms sway in toxic plumes,
While crabs scuttle ‘cross underwater dunes,
Ecosystems thriving in the dark,
Where no plant grows, no bird can hark.

Our descent continues, ever slow,
Through layers of time, both high and low,
Where sunken ships and lost planes rest,
Their secrets kept in Neptune’s breast.

The bones of ancient creatures lie,
Beneath the weight of seas piled high,
Their forms preserved in briny tombs,
A record of past lives and dooms.

As pressure mounts and cold seeps in,
We feel our journey might begin
To take its toll, to bend our will,
Yet curiosity drives us still.

For in this lightless, liquid space,
We seek to find our rightful place,
To understand the depths within,
Our own souls, where we’ve never been.

The silence speaks in volumes here,
Of isolation, primal fear,
Yet also peace, a calm profound,
In depths where human noise is drowned.

Our minds expand to fill the void,
With thoughts and dreams long since avoided,
Facing truths we’d left behind,
In shallower waters of the mind.

Each fathom down’s a step within,
To core of self, where we begin
To see with clarity so stark,
Our true nature, light and dark.

The pressure of the deep abides,
Within our hearts, where courage hides,
Reminding us with every breath,
Of life’s fragility, and death.

Yet in this realm so far from sun,
Where day and night are merged as one,
We find a strength we never knew,
A resilience both deep and true.

For if we can withstand this press,
This silent, crushing, dark duress,
What challenge on the surface world,
Could leave our spirits crushed or curled?

And as we finally touch the floor,
Of oceans deep, of inner core,
We realize our descent’s true worth:
A journey of rebirth.

For in the silence and the dark,
Where no bird sings, no dog can bark,
We’ve found a truth both stark and bold:
Our depths contain both new and old.

The wisdom gained in pressure’s hold,
Will serve us well as we grow old,
A silent strength, a core of steel,
That all life’s storms cannot repeal.

So as we start our slow ascent,
Back to the world of light we’re sent,
We carry with us from the deep,
The secrets that the silence keeps.

Our silent descent, now complete,
Has taught us lessons bittersweet,
Of darkness, pressure, and the cold,
But also strength and truths untold.

And surfacing, we greet the light,
With eyes now used to darkest night,
Forever changed by what we’ve seen,
In depths where few have ever been.