It’s The Journey

What if there were no more mountains:
when I stand out naked to the stars
from that last lofty peak and behold
endless plains stretching far out
to the end of my days and beyond?

Should I leap from the tip of that mount
and blaze in glory all the way down
or take the Sherpa safe trail onward,
knowing each step brings me closer
to the uneventful tomorrows a’ fin?

Younger I believed when they told me
there’d always be another mountain
but lately I’ve seen the tapering off
where range descends to alluvial plain
yet I do not wish to return to past climbs.

So forward I’ve stretched my hands,
pulled up to each crevice painstakingly,
looking back only to remember wonders
experienced in each earlier ascent
with no intent or desire to back-track.

So then, at the bottom of the last hill,
mountains solely behind me,
I'd start out across the plains;
for on the distant side, there is bound
to be a wide and glorious sea to swim.

(Thanks to Miley Cyrus for line 2, stanza 3)

15 April 2029 (# 14).