The First Rebreather

In a place where the river banks draw near
Men work a heading to the west
Where streams like giants' fingers close
From the hills to the emptiness beneath
To the depths of the mere.

Morning light, midwinter sun
Underneath; the river song.

In a place where the river banks draw close
Men break stone to make new ground
Light and air are hard down deep to find
Engines work to hold the water back
To the edge of the mere.

'Run boys run toward the light
The river's in, the tunnel's in'
Here she comes
The sleeper wakes
Ten thousand years
She lay in wait for this.

Every night their dreams were filled
With the fear of the river breaking in
But this was not a river god
This was something rising from the deep
From the depths of the mere.

'Run boys run make for the light
Save yourselves, the tunnel's in'
Here he comes
The first rebreather
Like a mummer
Like a souler
(Come to save them.)

Rising up to the height of the river
At flood tide
Engines fail, lost to the water
As silence falls.

This man will walk into darkness
One foot in front of the other
Into the unsounded depths
Of the heading
Into the fifth circle of hell
With no light to lead him home
Man is all alone at the end.

This man will walk into darkness
Without fear of what lurks in the shadows
Watching the surface grow quite still
Waiting for hope at the ninth hour
Man all alone in the darkness
Here he comes: the first rebreather.