The children venture

Into still deeps of forest,

its edges ink black,

A wall of silence.

Their lantern held high

Aloft, a sole point of light

Within the void,

Without the night.

An unseen city

Of sulking sentinel pines

Lies past the pall

On wich their light shines

So their eyes peer blind

Into the Heart of Darkness.

Hope pleads for calm;

Hearts throb on ceaseless,

Until the laugh of an owl

Echoes through the pallid gloom,

A throaty call

of innocence doomed.

Still later asleep,

The old night bird's cry resounds,

A knell that stains

Peace; the day confounds.