Sitting at the summit
at the end of it all,
waiting in a cloud,
a fancy shroud,
to wrap me when I fall.
Standing on the summit,
listening for the call.
The echoes won’t rebound
a silenced sound;
circles in a squall.
Kneeling near the summit,
my journey still feels raw;
they said the air’d be clearer here,
that faith would come to conquer fear,
but every design has flaw.
Tottering on the precipice
with nothing clear above
just golden, metal, man-made cross.
clouds like surrender flags of loss,
fate and fear, a hand-in-glove.
Many have stood here before,
perhaps if there’s a future,
many more, but I’m drinking
on the peak, staggering
on the brink, panicking
in disbelief, illness
a relief, too weak
to grasp the
mystique.
Inspired by a cloudy visit to the Zugspitze, the highest peak in Germany.
This piece is in response to d’Verse’s challenge “Edges and Fringes.”
Lisa graciously gave us a choice of activities:
1. Write a poem using the word edge;
2. Write a poem that keeps Millikin’s question above in mind.
3. Write a poem using the word fringe;
4. Write a poem from the fringe, however you define it.
Yard Sale of Thoughts 
I can imagine lots of thoughts swirling through your mind up there and looking down on that magnificence.
Love this reeling end:
“I’m drinking
on the peak, staggering
on the brink, panicking
in disbelief, illness
a relief, too weak
to grasp this
mystique.”
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Thank you, Lisa. It’s awe-inspiring up there, but also humbling. I went right before the first lockdown.
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You’re welcome.
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me too! I think that could be a poem in and of itself! fantastic!
-David
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Thanks, David. Yeah, I’m going to keep working on how to capture this memory with even more meaning. Thanks for commenting.
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There are moments nature takes the breath away and leaves us weak with awe!
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Thank you for your comment. There was hardly anyone there that day, as it was too cloudy to get the full view and just a day or two before the closing down of lockdown. I was sitting on a turning point, it felt like. Wish my words could even more adequately describe this edge.
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Amazing. Sounds incredible. I felt a bit that way when I went to Uluru. I didn’t climb it, of course, but just the majesty and mystique of all that history and geology and wilderness. It comes across beautifully in your poem.
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Thank you, I don’t think I ever been that high and to ascend so quickly right at the edge of the outbreak. Definitely felt like a meaningful moment all lost in the clouds.
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Nicely done. I enjoyed this.
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Hopefully, you’ll get to go back in clear weather – the Alps are spectacular.
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It’s all rain this weekend, so at least no snow. The alps are magical. The Austrian alps, the cycling there is crazy. People take the lifts up and then fly down the switchback roads.
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Hopefully by the summer we will all be un-locked-down enough to enjoy them. But even then, we need to take our chances. I once drove to see the Eiger and it was absolutely washed out. A day later, I drove to the Matterhorn and had the most beautiful day you could imagine. The Swiss are very efficient, they keep all their mountains within driving distance 🤣
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Drove to the top of one~gps adventure but the road was closed so it was 45 min down abs then an hour around to where we were going. That’s when the bikers whizzed by, flying down these steep switch backs. I’m guessing one of the high thrills of their lives. We went here, eventually. https://www.ellmi.at/en/magical-world/ellmis-adventure-world.html
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That looks idyllic, apart from the thousand other people there!
I think I got up to about 70 km/h on my bike – there was one descent locally in particular. Exhilarating, but a knife-edge. But there are no proper mountains around here.
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I love being up in the mountains but I HATE cable cars! You’ve captured that vertiginous feeling of hanging on the edge of life and death…
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Thanks for your comment, Ingrid. That one was the fastest and quickest ascent I’ve ever made into the air. I am the same with motion sickness, yet there those who ski right off the top only minutes later.
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I can’t get my head around it. My legs would be shaking too much!
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You captured the dizzying, humbling, awe of being on a mountain peak. I’ve never been up that high.
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Thank you, Merril. It creaks on the way up, and sways in the wind. All the tourists hold their breath, while to locals just gab away.
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😀
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The change in verbs and the breaking of the rhyme scheme at the end make me feel the breathless arrival at the summit.
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An intense experience. I imagine the thinner air played a part as well, opening your mind. (K)
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There are some views just too otherworldly to quite comprehend.
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I think one lesson of climbing is that you can never foresee what the view will be… I have been climbing when it was foggy almost all the way to the peak only to clear when I reached the summit, and the opposite has happened too… love the way you described the experience, and I love the word precipice
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I agree that a climb through the clouds can often lead to a clearing. I appreciate your comments, Björn.
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Hi K , arthritis flaring, typing excruciating, but good work!
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Rob, sorry to hear that. Thank you for reading and commenting. I’ve injured my wrist so it flares up, even when it rains. Have you ever tried Tumeric? It helps keep my wrist from flaring up. All the best to you.
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Beautifully penned.
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Your poem is breathtaking, literally! Germany is at the top of my travel bucket list.
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