The Peak

Written in Feb. 2010

Your breathing haltingly grinds as the top comes into view

Straining for the last, stifled steps of resolve, you struggle for strength

To complete the last legs of your journey’s passage

But something mocks you, knowing it is not quite enough

The slope behind was rocky and singed with ample memories

Of pieces of sweetness and harshness combined

Of strained repressions and glimpses of sanctioning power

When you were bound to steadfastness and stuck to the plan

But brief faulty moments told you to lie to the story

That you’d written yourself long ago

Pressing onward and upward, you shake off the deceit

And go for the prize at the peak

The harsh-combing winds greet you at the top and casually turn

Your hopes into confusion and regrets unbidden

For looking behind, it does not look as glorious as before

When you could see from a biased perspective

Tucking dreams and feelings around you, seems as if all was wasted

For a pithy flawed moments the pity consumes

But another response enters through and says

No experience is unnecessary for weaning you from a pale existence

Bolstered and forthright, the challenge to make the future

A sanctified one with a liberating perspective

Of how you will react when acted upon in time

Renews the ideals and heals the blows to your past

Perhaps the valley below will be the true goal you had envisioned

Perhaps the goal was not the top, but a gentle

Descent into the wizened frame of mind that comes from

The testing outlines and hastening of knowledge

Perhaps you will realize that the peace below far outweighs the view

From the top of the peak’s cold winds

And see that your past was vitally void

Of the true honors that await your receipt