10. Cave of Giants

  (Tendi)

  Into the wood and down through hell

  Begins a journey where they dwell

  Inside the earth, for legends tell

  Of giants living underground.

  For in all legends lies the truth,

  At least a piece of it, in sooth,

  Amidst the many lies uncouth

  Spoken about and spread around.

  So anyway, my friends and I

  Went caving in age-old Shanghai

  Where even locals testify

  To never go beneath the ground.

  But we were stupid tourists then;

  Not listening to Mr. Chen,

  We ventured to the narrow glen

  Where they were rumored to be found.

  We spent all day just getting there

  And camped outside giants' lair,

  The entrance cave beyond compare—

  So huge it should be more renowned.

  So overnight we slept inside

  Our knapsacks in the countryside,

  Where nighttime silences belied

  The giants sleeping in the background.

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  At morning we unpacked our camp

  Ere going on our daytime scamp

  Into the darkness with our lamp

  Lighting our way into the foreground.

  Through massive halls of stalactite

  And over floors of stalagmite,

  We journeyed through the endless night

  Of the giants' hidden playground.

  Deeper and deeper through the cave,

  We journeyed through the deep concave

  Surroundings of our living grave,

  When we all heard a breathing sound.

  We saw an opening right where

  We heard the breathing in the air,

  Peering into the giants' lair,

  Feeling our heartbeats' constant pound.

  I turned my flashlight on and aimed

  The beam into the darkness; framed

  Inside the dark, two eyes inflamed

  With rage peered out and looked around.

  We all hightailed our asses then

  Out of the cavern darkness when

  We heard the breathing air again,

  Followed by shaking in the ground.

  Running and stumbling through the dark,

  We heard a roar break through the stark

  Stillness, from which the legends mark

  The giants' raging underground.

  Out of the entrance, we began

  Our scramble through the narrow span

  Of glen, until we reached our van

  And drove away, now airport-bound.

  We'll never go back to that place

  Where giants lurk without a trace

  Within dark caverns as a race,

  Waiting there still until they're found.

  So when you make your cavern trips,

  Listen to locals and their tips

  And warnings from their speaking lips—

  Sometimes it's best to turn around.

  FINISH