A Yearing for Peaks Unclimbed, A Poem for the Mountains

One day I’ll climb upon your peak

But today is not the day

Till then, only dreams of the summit I seek

But, today my soul is far too week

Dream about you where I lay

One day I’ll climb upon your peak

Way shrouded by woods and creek

From your path I’ll never stray

Till then, only dreams of the summit I seek

Your spires reach high, through heavens streak

Others seem dull and gray

One day I’ll climb upon your peak

Failure behind, not a whisper I’ll speak

Nightly vision of you I pray

Till, then only dreams of the summit I seek

I’ll keep climbing though my bones now creak

And on your summit is where I’ll stay

One day I’ll climb upon you peak

Till then, only dreams of the summit I seek

There is a deep relationship between mountaineers and mountains, between the summit and the searcher. It is an obsession to climb mountains. For some, every peak within their grasp must be climbed whereas others are satisfied to master one particular mountain or range. Just as there are many forms of love, the forms of mountain climbing are boundless. Mountaineers are driven by visions of the summit, motivated by an urge many will never understand. It is as if there is an invisible force driving us toward the summit. Perhaps it is a quest to hear the whispers of the gods or to quell the voices within us.

There are too, mountains to climb in everyone's lives. Whether the conquest for glory, the pursuit of enlightenment, or the quest for happiness we all climbs the mountains of our own domain. To reach the summit is to experience a blissful satisfaction. It is something beyond mere goals, it is something more like a series of goals. This poem attempts to express the yearning for the thing which completes us and rids us of emptiness.

I decided to use the very traditional villanelle form is composing this poem. Its predictable structure of repeating refrains is like climbing a mountain. Though the process is the same, there is always a slight variant as excitement builds. For, poetry like climbing is not about reaching the top or finishing the poem but immersing yourself in the experience or the love of the art.

This page © Copyright 2011, Daniel Human