climbing.

C L I M B I N G .

Eldorado Peak, North Cascades National Park, Washington

© 2013 All Rights Reserved

At this elevation snow fields

lie like afghans for the slopes,

make shawls for the avalanche lilies.

To breathe becomes the rule,

to move,

each leg a body,

to squeeze oxygen

out of the air.

Think of conjugations

to gain five minutes.

Stopping beneath this last stand of trees

the rain slips down rocks and faces,

luminous from hours of rain,

legs prickling

inside soggy wool.

Hunched into the wind,

it whips and wraps cold fingers

around the ridges, ripping the

clouds,

and bringing an indictment; there is

no hiding on this face.

~ Phyllis Munzlinger

Excerpted from The Mountaineer, January 1977