We make decisions about how we want to cave
and then we have to live with it or die with it,
says the boy in a video, in a cave, stuck;

I’m reminded of the time in Colorado,
Cave of the Winds, when the guide told our group,
The most important thing when spelunking

is to tell someone on the outside where you’re going.
When Rhea gave birth to Zeus she hid in a cave
so Cronus wouldn’t devour the boy-child.

In the videos it’s always beautiful boys descending,
belly crawling, squeezing, like they want to be birthed
a second time. They’re attracted to risk like moths

to flame, following a map marked Hall of the Mountain King,
Hall of Faces, Oubliette. I only went there once. To get high.
It was so long ago, I hadn’t even been born yet.