Mountain Climbing For Morons

 do a checklist before beginning:

helmet

harness

shoes

carabiners

webbing

cords

oxygen canisters

fuel food

etc.

check weather reports.

set up a base camp.

in the helicopter

the blades reminded you

od the ceiling fan

in the hotel

in Bangkok

last year.

all right

up you go

(as your father once said

handing small you

onto the monkey bars)

this is it.

the world now boils down

to snow

ice

crevasses

ridges

storms

whiteness.

at the summit,

you're as winded as you were

when she left you.

you needed a challenge

and here it is, so

pose

for a picture

plant

a flag.

be Sir Edmund for a minute.

but

Tenzig Norgay knew

that everything

worth having

was

back in Lukla

Kathmandu

Casablanca

or Hometown, USA.

even the cat

knew that.

why didn't you?