Mountain Climbers

 I never
Asked for the perfect life
Nor flawless plans
It was the struggle
That has always
Always
Been what kept me alive.
I never asked
Nor fought
For more than the next meal
Or smile.
Running round
And round
Again
In my own twisted mind
I scrape
And I chisel
The lost thoughts
From now abandoned mines
Of inspiration
Of desire
That cover my mind.
Chipping off thoughts,
Ideas,
Lyrics,
And melodies
As metals
To mold as tools
For the journey
An adventure
To test my abilities.
Sitting here,
I feel it.
The potential
I feel it burning.
So that
As I stand
I wonder
If I want the glory
The glory
I could reach.
And then
As I'm pushed
Farther
And higher
Up the mountain trails
I pass the comfort of summer streams
And open fields.
Higher
Higher
Higher
And then
Ice bites my face,
Wind deafens my ears.
For what?
I can make it.
I can.
For nothing more
Than to say
"Yes I did".
What more
Does one need?
Faith?
Love?
Happiness?
Don’t  You reach true joy
From the accomplishments
Of impossibilities?
Are we not taught
That perfection is at the top
Are we not shown
That true persistence
Is only good when
Used to stretch to unreachable
Are we not ashamed
To believe
We can't be content
Until we raise our standards
That
Contentment is for those
Too weak for the hike
Are we not told
To strive past
Our own humble desires?
We push ourselves
Higher
Numbed to the pain
Numb to our needs
And numbed to our own wants
Higher
Higher
And then
Higher still
Until
We've lost our will
Then
When we've reached the peak
We have gone
Where none have before
Though the air is too thin to speak
The ground to hard to bare fruit
Weather too chill to grant life
But
We are there
If you come back
You are weak
Stay
And you are frozen
In silent starvation
So who
Who is truly week
Those that know their own dreams
Those that wish to show their skills
At cost of anything?
Those that can turn away from harm
Those that face it childishly unarmed
Though maybe
Maybe the strongest
Are those that watched
That saw us climb
And sent us
Prayers
To melt
Our freezing hearts