Thoughts On Everest Poem by Liilia Talts Morrison

It happened many years ago
A team went up to scale
And challenge a forbidden peak
That made all others pale

The Himalayas had been closed
To those who would trespass
Until a war shook up the land
And opened a crevasse
Upon the southern plains beneath
The mountain's rocky mass

All eyes were on the team's ascent
As inch-by-inch they trod
From foothills, base camp, to the heights
With bulky crampons shod

The sherpas and the Englishmen
Were hardy as can be
But when they saw the summit's face
They fell upon their knees

This was much more than they could bear
Their breath and strength would pale
Had it not been for unseen hands
That sheltered them in gales

Days passed and many challenges
Were conquered one by one
Then flags were stabbed upon the top
The mountain had been won

I sit and ponder this event
Which happened years ago
And wonder where I had been then
In tides of life's vast flow

Why, I had only been a teen
A fragile, bashful girl
A year that should have promised joy
For I was sweet sixteen

Yet I ignored that fabled feat
And now I know just why
My world fell down when my first love
Walked off and said goodbye

I guess we all have special quests
Though no one even knows
How steep the ladder each must climb
How rough the wind that blows

No, I have not done things of note
Climbed mountains or sailed seas
My journey's just a forest path
A dance among the trees

It happened many years ago
A team went up to scale
And challenge a forbidden peak
That made all others pale.