When the Mountain Says No

When the mountain says no,
today is not your turn,
how do you respond?

Do you bow your head
and turn for another day,
or keep pressing on?

Perhaps you've been lucky
to acquire the false belief
that you can, and must always, ascend.

Or, maybe, luckier still,
you've fallen at times,
and nodding modestly, descend.

Thumping your way down,
away from heart's content,
you find yourself following the river.

I've been there many times myself,
the water's whisper
helping me forgive her.

Exchanging words, I've confessed,
it was easier
to just keep passing through.

Flowing down and around 
the rocks and branches,
until I'm split in two.

But today, I thought, no. No!
I am not a river 
with nothing else to seek.

I am a mountain.
A mountain!
And it is to the mountains I wish to speak.