[{"poem":{"title":"A Revelation of Further Darkness","text":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003EThe laughing bellhop cranked the elevator down\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003EWeeping\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; the walls of the shaft from no source glowed no spot\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003E-light no projector blue with every chuckle green\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003EWith every sob the white\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; of the floating rocks that float\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003EOn Crater Lake forever dirty white of rocks\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003EFloating on water\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; clean forever\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; the pitted walls\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003EGlowed white with every gasp\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; from too much laughing too\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003EMuch weeping blue then green for hours\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; those alternating\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003EThen white then\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; green then only white the light on the walls\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003EIn the middle of or maybe\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; near the bottom of\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003EOr maybe really not so far from the top of the shaft\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003EAlthough I couldn\u2019t or not me\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; and not the robot\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003EBird see from where in the shaft the walls began to only\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003EEver glow white no blue no green\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; I couldn\u2019t see or\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003EWe couldn\u2019t see\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; the light at the mouth of the shaft and were\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003ESo deep we heard each gasp now only after each\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003EGlowing the gasp occasioned\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; maybe Law\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; the robot\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003EBird could see farther up than me so maybe Law\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003ECould see the light at the mouth of the shaft\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; but I don\u2019t think\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003ELaw could hear sooner no and later\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; in the dark\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003E-ness so far down the shaft long seconds stretched between\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003EEach flash of white and each faint gasp I asked and Law\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003EStill couldn\u2019t see the bunker\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; no although and then\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003EWe swung in the bucket far\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; below the mouth of the shaft\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003ESo far\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; we only heard the\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; gasps we couldn\u2019t hear\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022long-line\u0022\u003EThe sobbing hidden in the light by which we saw\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","soundcloud":null,"uuid":"75273bc9-c71f-437c-8a6e-87545469afdd","alias":"\/poem\/revelation-further-darkness","attribution":"\u003Cp\u003EExcerpted from \u003Cem\u003ENEW AND COLLECTED HELL: A Poem by Shane McCrae\u003C\/em\u003E. Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Copyright \u00a9 2025 by Shane McCrae. All rights reserved.\u003C\/p\u003E","about":null,"vertical":null},"poet":{"name":"Shane McCrae","alias":"\/poet\/shane-mccrae","image":"https:\/\/api.poets.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/poem_a_day_portrait\/public\/images\/biographies\/Shane%20McCrae%27s%20face%20%281%29_0.jpg?itok=DdeRpdB4"}}]