CLIMBING THE HEIGHTS

At the peak, you glance back

and finally collapse.

This great height amazes,

the trail upward a long stream,

yourself, your heart’s blood,

the freshet.

You gaze down through deep memory.

On the slope, out of nowhere, clambering antelopes.

You hope they reach the summit

but they slip into shadow.

Like a hand bearing a secret

flashed once before your eyes,

they melt

into emptiness.

This road you walked, like a river

at evening, gleams with trembled light.