The Answer



He awoke in the depths surrounded by the dark,
Narrow and winding was the path;
He looked the other way, but to his dismay,
The path was all he had.

The cave was deep and dark as could be,
Burdened with memories and scars.
The answer lies at the end of the path,
The answer that brought him this far.

As he travelled deeper into the abyss,
He was ridden with problems and struggles.
He wished to turn to a being with power,
One who could destroy all his troubles.
But as he saw time tick by the hour,
More trammels he faced in the tunnel.
With no sight or sound, his doubts towered,
A thought came to him amongst the rubble;

"Does this supreme power even exist?"

Irresolute, he decided to keep moving ahead,
But seized by fatigue and hunger,
He sat down in the chasm, but he could barely fathom
A corpse in front ripped asunder.

A carcass lay in front of him
Feasted upon by the vicious beasts.
He thought about the misfortune of prey
Scurried for fear of the beasts unleashed,
Through no one fault thrown into the fray;
And though the hunter wills for his feast,
The law of hunger they must obey.
And the thoughts in his mind together pieced;

"Do we have the will to act, or are we all just destiny's tryst?"

He journeyed on with these doubts in mind,
To bear witness to simple and strange.
He felt he drew nearer to the end,
But suddenly things began to change.

The voices came to him from every direction,
He knew there was none but him.
He began to see impossible things.
To his logic, it all seemed grim.
Memories of his journey came recurring,
And his mind was filled to the rim.
Like blooming flowers in spring,
The question burst out from within;

"Was reality even real, or from the truth did I desist?"

Burdened with these doubts in mind,
He had no choice but to march on.
Then in the black night, he saw to his delight
The door towards he was drawn.

The door concealed behind it a light,
That answer he searched for with all his might.
He opened the door after his struggles and labor,
And laid eyes on what lay inside the chamber.
What he saw inside could not be unseen,
The truth that slipped in the lines between,
The truth that was by the silence spelt,
He entered to find only himself.

About this poem

I narrate the story of a man in dark cave who journeys into its depths to find an answer/treasure he has been searching for. I wanted to draw parallels between the journey in the cave and the journey of life. And the answer/treasure being the thing that all humans ultimately want to know, i.e. what is the meaning of life? In the first stanza, I wish to convey that like death, birth is also irreversible, and so he has no choice but to continue on the path of life. The second stanza is meant to highlight the purpose of his journey through the cave (and life). I then wanted to bring up the three big existential questions that all humans come to realize through the journey of life. Firstly, he begins to question whether this notion of a God is true (or is it just taught to us by society and hardships?). He then begins to question whether we have free-will, or whether everything in this world is predetermined. I draw parallels between this question and the predator-prey dynamic. I also at 

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Written on 2022

Submitted by kaushikprabhav on August 12, 2022

Modified on May 01, 2023

2:23 min read
523

Quick analysis:

Scheme XABC XXAX XDEDEFXF G XEXE HXBXBIBI G JKXK XHXHLHLX G JXMX MMEENNCX
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 2,213
Words 478
Stanzas 12
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 8, 1, 4, 8, 1, 4, 8, 1, 4, 8

Discuss the poem The Answer with the community...

2 Comments
  • adelelenaleahy
    Stunning.
    LikeReply1 year ago
  • IntoIntuition
    There is quite a wonderful storytelling dynamic that this poet had implemented, and the rhyme scheme, to me, was in appropriately good taste. Certainly thought-provoking, where one may relate to the material. The rhythm was acceptable, yet I feel not fully polished. All-in-all, I narrowed down 126 poems to around 40 pinned ones, and then I was left finally after deep consideration with "One Heart, One Soul, Too Much" (which to me is rather hopeful and reminiscent of the poem "Don't Quit") and this poem. This one has my vote. 
    LikeReply1 year ago

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"The Answer" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/136732/the-answer>.

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