It stood so glorious
there before me
towering, towering o’er my head
I could not help but
stumble toward it
newly risen from death’s dark bed
The shrouds of death
so quick discarded
tangled, swiftly made me fall
But even then at the beginning
I knew the heights
deserved my all
And now so many years have passed
so many footsteps
on the trail
And still it’s up there
further, farther
mostly hidden ‘neath the vale
It calls to somewhere deep inside me
pulsing with each step
I take
And moving ever onward upward
reminds this journey
I must make
I’ve fallen hard and
bones I’ve broken
days and months and years I’ve lost
But never would I
now begrudge it
counting up this long walks’ cost
For everywhere I look there’s glory
every view on
which I gaze
And still the greatest view before me
somewhere higher
in the haze
This pack I shoulder each day lighter
though trinkets still
do catch my eye
I wish I could avoid the tumbles
those nights I sit right down
and cry
For everywhere I look there’s sorrow
in every curve
a broken form
At every sight of battered body
I shudder that this
be the norm
Why must it be so many stumble
countless others
lose their way
How can it be that so few find it
sightless wandering
far below stay
All these and many other questions
start in on me
each break of day
Why do I count among the fortunate
to travel on this
narrow way
There is beauty in the questions
as I give each day
my best
There is beauty in the journey
and beauty
in the rest
There is joy in the ascending
with each day’s
elevation gain
Thought at times effort expended
has me grumbling through
the pain
The mountain before me shines and shimmers
for the end my heart
it pines
And I find my soul expanding
coloring outside all
those old lines
So I’ll shoulder my pack
stretch weary muscles
and start up again on this journey of mine
Because the views are so very splendid
and the rewards
so truly divine
I hope to see you somewhere on this path
and walk a little
together
We can huddle up
and share our warmth
and pass the nasty weather
For I could not recommend this way
with greater warmth
tho humble the rhyme
As I make my way up to the top
of this mountain
I could not but climb