There’s a mountain I climb
for no other cause,
than for me and my dog
to stretch out our paws.
Not as pretty as some
but it serves its purpose,
as we scurry above
the hardscrabble surface.
I can’t tell you why
I treat this one so,
wishing there was somewhere
else I could go.
But again and again,
I repeat this visit,
bringing my body,
forgetting my spirit.
Why here, this need
to speed through?
To quickly move on
to the next thing to do?
No other mountain
fails to avail,
or keep my mind bent
squarely on the trail.
Why this one,
this ledge of proximity,
do I choose to withhold
all my affinity?
When there are so many others,
strewn about,
no different than this one,
yet I love without doubt.
Perhaps if I imagine,
the next time I come,
a farther distance
I’m traveling from,
this mountain will change
on another long look,
revealing in time
all the life I mistook.
— ❧ —
Poetry Corner
This poem was inspired by North Pack Monadnock—a mountain that’s not too far away and therefore I never treat like some far-flung mountain adventure. I’ve hiked it more times than I remember and usually regard it as something to conquer for my fitness as opposed to a worthy part of the earth to absorb. On my last hike, I suppose I started to chastise myself for doing so.
If you’d like to read more poetry like this, please check out In Verse.