Journey to the Top
I stared down from the peak of the crag as nothing but rope and pure strength supported me
As I turned my head, I heard only wind and thought around me
Two hundred feet below me stood the rest of the pack, but up there, I was alone
They say that it is lonely at the top, and this is true,
But look where the journey to the top has gotten me
The battle to the peak was just that--
Sticks and leaves spat in my face as I ascended another foot up the rock
Telling me to stop my journey, to go back down and be like everyone else
My trembling arms wept from exhaustion and fear of the challenge ahead
But the warm April breeze filled my body with hope and perseverance
As I progressed, my soul ached for solid ground, for familiarity
The change of scenery did nothing for the screaming child inside
She longed to be on the ground like the rest, to feel the same contentedness that they did
But she was never content on familiar, solid ground
She longed to amount to something more, and so the screaming subsided as I persevered
If one thing was for certain in the swirling tangle of thought that engulfed my head
It was that I could not give up
Persistence had led me to the top, to the peak of the rock that I had so squeamishly tackled
And even though the others would have their thoughts, I was, there, in that moment, different
The goal had been reached, the end met, and the view from the top was spectacular