Majestic Mountains
From the bottom so tall,
The majestic peaks rise above the horizon,
In the distance,
Across the open plains,
I can see them for miles…
As I near they only appear to rise up and up,
Further and further into the heavens,
Snow caped peaks in the spring time,
It is late June,
I can still see the snow on the mountain tops,
It must be cold I think to myself…
Finally I reach one,
Looking up,
I can not see the top,
It rises to high,
Above the clouds,
I begin to walk,
I find myself out of breath,
I stop for a minute to listen to the wind…
The leaves rustle,
The sun shines bright and warm,
It is still warm outside…
I hear birds chirping in the trees,
The clouds are receding; and the sun seems more bright,
I continue walking,
I begin to feel a cool breeze,
The trees are thinning,
There is an opening up ahead…
I continue walking,
I have to stop more often; in order to catch my breath,
The land is now rocky,
The earth is hard,
I look down to see the trees far below,
I look upward to see something moving…
I continue walking,
I begin to slow down,
There is something ahead,
An animal of some type…
As I near, I see that it is not one, but many,
Sheep,
Big horned sheep,
Sunning themselves on the rocks above…
I continue onward,
There is a sea of green when I look back,
The evergreens that seemed so tall,
Look miniscule in the distance.
I continue to climb,
Climb I must,
It is beginning to get later in the day,
The sun is now overhead,
I still can feel its’ warmth.
The breeze is growing stronger,
The sun seems even more bright overhead…
Finally I glimpse the top,
Just a little farther,
I can see it ever nearer,
On the horizon up ahead,
I continue walking,
The rocks beneath my feet are smaller than before,
As I near my goal,
Dark clouds begin to appear,
They seem to be rolling quickly,
Across the plains below…
I continue,
The ground begins to level out,
I can see other mountain tops all around…
I have reached it,
The top!
I stand for moment,
The breeze has turned chilly,
There are patches of snow all around,
I look downward,
The trees are tiny,
They look like a sea of green moss below,
I look outward,
In the near distance I see other peaks rising,
Some of them must be higher than the one upon which I stand.
I look further outward,
Into the far distance,
I can see the grayish plains below,
Lakes dot the mountains like ponds,
But they are so blue…
I continue to scan as far as the eye can see,
There is something fuzzy in the distance,
Sticking up just slightly from the ground…
Could it be?
The city from whence I came?
It seems so small and insignificant,
How can men think so much of these things?
They will fall.
The mountains will remain.
I hear a rumbling in the distance,
I look behind me,
I see dark clouds nearing…
I know my time is up,
I turn back and look at how far I’ve come,
I begin hiking rather quickly,
Rushing towards the bottom; in order to outrun the storms.
As I walk,
I risk a glance behind me,
The mountain is still there,
It’s still big,
It’s still rocky,
But I remember what it was like,
To look out,
Upon the plains,
Upon the mountain ranges,
With the sun so bright,
Shinning overhead,
And the breeze so strong and chilly,
I continue to walk,
The storms begin to get closer.
Will it rain?
I remember,
The rain had once passed by,
On to another peak I suppose.
I reach the bottom,
I am thirsty,
I am utterly exhausted,
The muscles in my legs burn,
I think to myself was it worth it?
It begins to rain,
I seek shelter underneath an overhang,
I look outside at the darkening sky,
I wonder what to do next.
Then as soon as it started,
The clouds part,
The sun reveals its face,
So bright and warm,
The sky becomes blue again,
As it always was.
I look at the clouds as they part,
And witness something,
Amazing.
A rainbow had appeared…
I continue to watch the scene unfold,
Another rainbow appears,
A double rainbow,
Could it be a sign?
The scene is beautiful,
the rainbows overarching the valley,
The lakes and streams among the green grass,
This is it I think,
This is what I have been looking for,
Then it begins to fade,
The clouds depart completely,
I look up once more,
To see the mountain from whence I had come,
My heart is there,
I left it up top,
I long to go back for it….
The sun is getting lower on the horizon,
Soon it will be behind the peaks,
I look to the flat plains,
The grey and unassuming plains,
I think to myself,
I must return to the city,
Why??
I must let someone know,
What I have experienced,
I must tell them about the mountain top,
I must let them know what I could see,
I must show them how small and insignificant the city seemed,
From so high above,
And most of all I must return to the top,
For that piece of me must be retrieved,
The part of me I left up there in the clouds.
I long to return,
But it must wait for another day,
On top the mountain.
-Nick Whittemore (Feb. 2012)
