The Alpine Wordsmith

Two weekends past, I made my sixth ascent up Pyramid Peak. It was an overnight backpacking trip with Mike and Mark, Roy and the Canns. John Allen Cann is Cody's "Poet Laureate" and I don't think I have to explain why. He wrote several poems on the way up, stopping to catch his breath and pulling out his notebook to sketch things down.

He sent me a poem titled "In the Aftermath of the Mountain." I couldn't resist sharing it with everyone.

 

What climbing

the tallest mountain around

 means

only comes clear

after the soreness fades

 

and you’ve resumed

your participation

       in the workaday world---

You forget somewhat

the grueling feat

 

of staring at your boots

& trudging

       grudgingly

one step

after another---

 

the pack on your back

growing 

inconsolably heavy

       since no peak

in this part of the universe

is yours unless you sleep on it

 

gazing at the stars

sequestered from the wind

       in a rockrimmed foxhole

so the slow dawnfire

can alchemize your memory forever.

 

All the grimaces

borne of the severe steepness

       going up

followed by the harsh descent

of the last measure

 

on wobbly legs 

relax

       into an interior smile

doubtless shared

by those who fellowed you on the climb.

A mountain matters

most in the mind

       only after the body

has been sacrificed

to its beautiful demands.