Hand over hand
a dirt stained body rises.
Hand over hand
clinging to the coarse woven fibers;
Skin burning with every red inch.
Moment by moment giving up
and holding on.
Hand over hand, rising above the canopy.
inch by inch into daylight;
The breath a chant, a prayer and plea.
The breath a chant, a prayer and plea.
The expansive sky in defiance
of everything once believed to be closed.
Terns drift by on their long migration.
To the endless world, the climber offers a small cry
merging in a wild chorus with every pitch.To the endless world, the climber offers a small cry