Soapbox Poet

Spikes Required (a poem)

On Tuesdays, I think about climbing mountains.

I will climb up again with spikes on my boots

and motive on my heart. Clean blue ice echoes

an eagerness as a steady faucet drip seeps down

the crystal canyons. Fresh drinking water for my

parched mouth – I’m sweating, and it’s 20 degrees

again. Gripping cliffs of clouds, I slide and maneuver

my path. The air is brittle, and I’d break it with the sharpness

of my words should I dare talk. The wind whips my lips

sealed, and I am left with nothing other than my ability

to bask in the glory. The sun tans my olive skin, and my

ego shrinks to a size that can humble the path. There

are people around me, but I am alone. I am alone with my

thoughts, yet I exist with the mountain, for its immeasurable

confidence to draw breath from the clouds gives me oxygen.