Awoken abruptly, aroused from slumber
I rose and listened to my wonder.
A muffled scream or groan of sorts,
coming from behind the wall.

I searched but could not find a thing.
No way out, no way in.
Solid brick and cobblestone,
and the sound continued on.

Who was this behind my wall?
With no way in and no way out.
Who was this who screamed so violent?
A woman, a man, a slave, a tyrant?

I was filled with such desire.
Though you may call me a liar,
With no way in or no way out,
I would have to make a route.

The moon observed as I struck the wall.
A thunderous crack with each hammerfall.
I might never sleep at all,
If I don't discover what's behind the wall.

Hours passed as I smashed and crashed,
Relentless in my quest for answers.
Three feet or more of stone and mortar,
Before I saw the other side.

At last a fracture, I was through!
Only another minute or two and I would discover
What disturbed me from my slumber,
On the other side of this cobblestone wall.

Three more strikes, my arms grew weary.
But, I was almost there!
I took my digits, dropped my mallet,
And threw my weight to break the wall.

I fell upon my knees and rested.
If only for but just one second,
And raised my head to see
What is was that had awoken me

In the rays of morning sun,
My battle with the wall was won.
But to my curiosity
It was not at all what I expected to see.

I saw a man, young in years
Kneeling before me there.
A wound upon his shoulder oozed,
seeping, weeping, bloody and bruised

I raised my hand to my shoulder,
And he raised his as I raised mine.
That was when I realized,
I had wasted an entire night.

For this was not a cry for help,
Or anything for me to see.
This was a game,
A game that I was fool to play.

For the man behind the wall,
With no way in and no way out
Was not a man
No, not a man at all.

Behind the wall's a room,
The room is very small,
It holds almost nothing at all.
But the room contains a 6 foot mirror,
My reflection is what I saw.

Perplexed I was.
Because I'd heard,
I know I'd heard a sound!
I pulled my hair in aggravation.
Where was this voice behind the wall?

I turned my back.
I cursed a curse.
The curse it was sincere.
I cursed myself, who could be so mad,
To listen to a mirror?

Then it returned, a mutter, a whisper
From yet behind the wall!
Taunting and teasing yet somehow in pain.
I turned to face the wall

I saw myself in polished glass,
And that was when it hit me.
I grabbed the hammer and marched ahead,
Like a warrior into battle.

I stopped to rest my hand on the glass.
The cold, dark amusement.
I took my other to give a knock,
Yes, it was hollow! yet somehow fluid.

I turned around and walked away,
To get a running start.
The wall may have been an obstacle,
But the mirror was as well.

And with a shout, a cry of victory,
A celebration premature.
I charged the mirror like a warrior,
A weapon of death and war.

The glass gave way with surprising ease,
And on the other side?
A vast nothing I fell into.
I kept falling, falling down.

I fell into a bottomless pit,
I was buried alive!
It was not an invitation,
Or a call to come inside at all.
Some poor soul before me was trying to warn me
Never to come inside the wall.