Saturday, November 2, 2013

Mountain


A road less traveled winds it's way
through beastly hot
desert waves of sand,
leading to
the mountain.

Air shimmers before squinted eyes,
mirages of escape routes
turning straight narrow trails
away from the craggy rocks
everyone must climb.

We hide behind pale
moonlight so no one
sees us struggle past
whippy branches of
dying trees, praying
we don't get our heads stuck
in the forked boughs of
despair.

Beacons of trust urge us forward,
onward (Christian soldiers!)
upward...our summit
calls Kyrie...mercy awaits
like soothing oil on weary
feet.

Cresting the peak,
grueling paces behind us,
dangers calling us back,
our future lies in deep valleys ahead,
shadows hide what we have yet
to see.

We kneel in thankfulness...
Safety is ours. For now.
A gift has been given,
embrace it, for it is
right passage out of our
'leading to nowhere'
rut.

Thank you. For alone
I could never have managed
to climb
my mountain.

11 comments:

  1. We certainly need help climbing our mountains. I really enjoyed the references to Onward Christian Soldiers and the Kyrie - these added to the spiritual feel of your poem.

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    1. Thanks! Spirituality is a very important component in my life.

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  2. there is a nice spirituality to this...a humbleness of being on the path...of knowing what lies ahead and that we can not face it alone or in our own strength....

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    1. Thank you so much, Brian. If I had to rely on me to get along, I'd be lost :)

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  3. "the craggy rocks
    everyone must climb"

    So much treachery in front of us, it seems, and everything in shadow. Great depiction of that, and I love how this poem ends.

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    1. Thank you Linda! I'm glad the ending works!!

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  4. so true..those mountains we face, forests that challenge would seem insurmountable without a higher friend to lift up on the journey..lovely write

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  5. it's good to be not alone while we have to climb these mountains of life...they can bring us to the edge at times... beautiful capture..

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