Climb to Heaven
“Climb to Heaven”
Hiking up a steep
mountain pass trail,
11,000 High Sierra feet.
Breathing hard, and yet
hardly breathing.
Thin air up here.
Sweat pouring down face
drips into eyes.
Burns real good.
Never ending switchbacks
climb forever.
Forever to heaven?
Squished a skeeder feeding
on my arm.
Showed him who’s boss!
Buzz-fly keeps buzzing
around my head.
Swing and a miss (strike two).
Tried cursing, but trail
just got steeper.
Pissed it off I guess.
Heart’s pumping hard,
calf’s burning good.
Mind……. bye, bye.
Trail’s less steep now,
flattening out.
The end is near.
Soul spirit soaring
I reach the top.
Kick back, enjoy the view.
Eat a little water,
drink a little salami.
Taste better up here.
Lay down, close eyes,
Relax on nice, soft granite.
Welcome to heaven.
(This isn’t the way this poem should look. But I couldn’t get it to format right.)
Nice poem Steve. Was that inspired by a particular hike?
It was inspired by many hikes, but the one that pops into my head as I read this poem is the first time I day hiked up Bishop Pass.
It was hot, the air was still, The flies were driving me nuts and the skeeters were very hungry.
Love the poem. Steve it is so wonderful to read your poems as it shows that you have such feelings inside and you let them out for us to enjoy. Thank you. I have done day hiking behind Saddlebag Lake some years ago. Those feelings are there but also there is the beauty as you know.