Colorado

I halfway climbed a mountain once,

Not much of one as mountains go

But formidable enough to someone

From prairie and level land of farms

 

Where what is to be seen is horizontal

And progress is more or less made

By walking in a straight line without

Much thought to where each foot goes

 

Unless you are looking for a place

To cross a stream or taking care to

Not trespass through someone's field.

Here there is only up or down and

 

More often than not you get there

Going around something that doesn't

Want you there.  Still, halfway is far

Enough and as far as I set out for,

 

Just to see the valley below, blue

With lupine and yellow of columbine,

Stretching not up or down but out,

Reaching to the sky in its own way.





Poetry by countryfog
Read 438 times
Written on 2012-02-06 at 16:15

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I suppose there are various reasons for climbing a mountain. For most it's getting to the top and a sense of conquest. For others it's the view--the thrill of seeing for miles and that distant haze where the planet curves. I agree that it's not always necessary to reach the peak--one could miss a whole lifetime's worth of little off-paths and attention to detail if he's racing uphill instead of savoring each progression, each step forward. Some of my best hiking trips have been in forest or lake country where everything is flat as a pancake. Not distracted by exertion and that compulsion to reach the top, I have more time and energy to ponder on the intricacies of a wild violet or savor the taste of a lush, ripe huckleberry.

William
2012-02-07