I stand
Do I stand?
on the peak
of a civilization long gone,
powdered sins underfoot,
sins, frogs, fossils,
ashes of old promises
no witnesses here.
and the anticipation kills me,
yes, the waiting
they said it would,
like they said about my fear
towards tales
out past the waves of wasted
words washed clean,
Deathless,
or only as loud as I gleamed,
cringe from the climb to here.
I am tired,
God, Anyone,
tired
of the pretension.
The ground rattles,
shaking with battles
before I shiver.
It shakes.
So I shake.
It fights.
So do I.
I invoke,
Nay, insist
on my right
up here
for nothing in particular,
not for might,
not for treason,
not even defiance of Nature’s Will
because this Climb
is as blind as it is deaf
as stalwart as it is arrogant
and twice as patient,
thrice as the uncaring it imprisons
yet no cell
is strong enough
to hold
a reasonless
thing.
Nothing in particular…
Nothing.