How many years I spent beneath the ground I do not know.
Enough to make the mold upon my skin begin to grow,
Enough to bend my skeleton, enough to crop my size,
Enough to force me to adopt these polished yellow eyes.

Once upon a time remote I dwelt beneath the sky,
But now I don’t remember either how I lived or why.
The sorcerer who captured me has robbed me of those times
And given me another place far underneath the mines.

The tunnels underneath the ground are filled with dark and dread;
The weight of earth is pressing only inches from your head;
The ceiling dips in places, so your head is best kept low
As round and round the labyrinth your head and thoughts must go.

It’s always very busy there, though nothing’s ever done;
The caverns all seem crowded full with other men undone.
All have lost their dignity, and most have lost their minds,
And half at least have lost their names and left them far behind.

The darkness brings dementia, but it also helps you hide;
No mirror gives you vision of your green and moldy hide;
You do not see the actions of your hands before your face;
And neither do you notice that you’ve left the human race.

There’s fewer thoughts available, and fewer feelings too:
Unease and fear and irritation quite fill up your view.
You start to thirst for vengeance, and you lash out at the dark
To strike at any random target close enough to mark.

I’d marks enough upon myself, from others of my kind,
And almost trapped eternally in such a frame of mind,
When finally he released us to return to surface lands
Where we could have our will with all that came into our hands.

My fellows all delighted in their chance to go and play—
How many things they spoiled and destroyed in just a day!
But by some accident I got estranged from all their mirth
And was not there to help them raze the lands that gave them birth.

Instead I wandered in the fields, and watched the roofless sky,
While somewhere else the others of my kind all warred and died.
So now I know a freedom—and another kind of fear,
For alas! I do not know where I shall go from here.