Further Up and Further In

Drenched in sweat and heat and dirt,

Tirian am I,

Fighting for all Narnia

In front of a hellish sty.

Rishda Tarkaan drives me

To that mouth-like door.

Many friends of mine

Have passed this way before.

"Come meet Tash yourself" I cry

As I push Rishda through the door.

Without courage now he lies

Broken on the floor.

And from that door Tash appears

And jerks his beak

At the Tarkaan and looks cruelly at me.

My survival seems bleak.

"Be gone," says a noble voice

From within the door

Tash leaves and

Is not seen in Narnia anymore.

I look at my surroundings of the stable within.

Bright flowers and green grass;

The inside bigger than the in,

With a sky as clear as glass.

I'm clothed clean and fresh

Like at a banquet or feast.

I am met by the kings and queens of old

Of our deeds I feel the least.

Aslan appears and with that golden mane

Praises me for I've been and what I was in.

And then he turns and runs calling,

"Further up and further in!"

I follow him through that beautiful country;

My own Narnia. Over hill, past fen

Through water and in field.

Always heading further up and further in.