Mountains Do Not Go Away Poem by gershon hepner

Mountains do not go away;
you have to live below
their massive summits, and each day
to their shadows show
respect, because you are not free
to run away. All youth
is destined in its time to be
the mountains from which truth
will come to overshadow you,
and make you realize
you’re being prepped for a preview
of premature demise.

Inspired by an article by Harvey Araton comparing the passing of sports dominance from the US to China to the passing of tennis dominance from Federer to Nidal (All Things Must Pass, Including Sports Dominance, ” NYT, August 11,2008) :
The circumstances aren’t the same, the timetable is less certain, but there is some tennis-style role-reversing occurring in the developing medal standings at the Summer Games. Change is coming at the top of the world and it breaks down like this: Here in Beijing, the United States is Roger Federer. China is Rafael Nadal. Sooner (here) or later (London 2012) , China’s determined, steady rise is going to catapult it past the American juggernaut. If you accept the common measure of dominance by the number of gold medals won, as opposed to the overall tally, another kind of Olympic torch is likely to be passed in the next two weeks, concurrent with Federer’s official relinquishing of his four-and-a-half-year hold on No.1 next Monday. The United States has been top dog for the last three Summer Games, or since the dissolution of the Soviet and East German sports machines. But China’s massive population, booming economy and surging athletic ambitions are the reasons it won’t be stopped, and no one knows this better than Peter Ueberroth, chairman of the United States Olympic Committee. For months leading into these Games, he and his minions have touted the Chinese, prepared the American masses for dethronement, and not just for this one home-field cycle. “I know the resources and what they intend to do, and I clearly expect them to be the dominant team at the Olympic Games for many, many, many years to come, ” Ueberroth said last week…. Nadal’s grinding playing style does not forecast many, many, many years of dominance, but he is five years younger than Federer, just beginning his prime winning period. He is almost untouchable on clay and a champion on grass. Federer has probably reached the point where he needs to adopt a been-there, done-that approach to being No.1, focus on targeted goals. At his news conference yesterday, I asked him if that subject had come up during his exhibition tour with Pete Sampras, the Slams record-holder at 14 whom Federer is chasing, with 12. “We didn’t speak a lot about rankings in any way, ” Federer said. “I just think more about, you know, being at the top for a long time. I mean, at the top doesn’t mean No.1 in the world. It can mean deep into Grand Slams, being in the top five, top 10 for, whatever,10 years,15 years, just be up there and having a shot at Grand Slams. “And I always knew — I mean, you can’t keep your ranking forever. If ever that were to happen, I think you have to, you know, sort of have a different, maybe, approach, see what’s the next step. Does it come down to the majors? Do you want to chase it again? ” By “it, ” Federer meant the No.1 ranking, adding that he is still in that game, for now. Fair enough. He is still close. He began the year at the threshold of immortality and suddenly a mountain appeared. Eventually, he will have to accept the reality of Nadal’s rise the way Ueberroth has China’s. The mountain doesn’t go away; it makes you live in its shadow. Occasionally you have to find a way to get around it.


8/11/08