Plumbing Hell

**This is my creation---using real places and an ancient ruler whose bones remain hidden today.

     Kamehameha I was also known as The Great One

The supernatural

lurks
beneath the plumb
of perception
waits in misery
and obscurity
for discernment.

Sometimes
you can hear them
as you hike
up the Stairway to Heaven.

Climbing up steep
cliff ladders with
howling winds at your back
the almost imperceptible
low chanting and drums
between the undulating peaks
shrouded in mist.
Pointing
to the petroglyphs
naming
the hidden path
to the secret tomb
of The Great One
a formidable foe
even in death.

Calling up things better left alone
as an apparition appears
somber

from beneath miles of sediment.

Larger than life
intent to lead
his army of
night marchers.

Blood-thirsty
lips cry
bewitch waterfalls
unlock ancient doors
between emerald cliffs

waking hell’s elite mercenaries

a foul eruption
panting in the shadows
hungry for flesh
leering in the gloom
as he
brutally stabs
a black widow.

Her web
thick with
motionless prey
entombed
and screeching
his name.