Monarca Rising

Climbing 

By Carmen H Gray

The air was cool and damp

I surveyed the distance up to the peak

Perilous rocks, slick with mist

Summoned me to climb them

The first rock I set my foot upon cracked

Breaking into a thousand pieces

Falling below me into the crevasse

But you urged me onward

And above me there were strangers

Perched in higher places

Who motioned for me to join them

Despite my fear of failure

Despite the pain I felt

I pushed myself upward

I did not feel alone

And you and they all cheered me

When I reached the top

At last I gazed below me

Through a slender opening

Yielding a staggering view

Of an ancient city

With perfectly symmetrical edifices

The open sky thanking me

For aligning myself with it