Wonder's Darkness

Wonder’s Darkness by Odin Roark He knew wonder well It could cancel fear And bestow courage A nexus for survival A predawn beginning His solo-climb of the face Thought crazy by doubters Had started swift and easy The results of plans Rehearsals Confidence The wall’s darkness was his own Anchoring piton after piton Securing each meter of ascension by feel With unharnessed confidence of mind For this was a climb of defiance Knowing few if any Might or would Ever understand his exhilaration His unique love of climbing-chalk and sweat Carabineers and rope Anchors and ascenders Tenuous connections to life All married to his inner eclipse Yet at the halfway point… Exhaustion appeared Adrenalin waned His pendulum traverse had missed Time seemed to stop Flesh and rock collided Bringing cold panic Seizing breath to hold Suspending threatened fate Even as the skill of a spider Had kept him safely vertical until now Death’s harassment had not been part of the plan His back rested against cold granite The lead taste of blood from his nose Conflicted the balsam and cedar fragrance Gusting up from the valley floor Fifteen hundred feet below His straight down reality Minutes passed… Awe and respect Life’s often ignored necessitude Hung together with him Against the sheared mountain Some predicted his dreaded finale With tenacity as partner Calmness merged with a blanket of sunrise warmth The crisis became the past now This test of tests faced completion His mind eased back to a climber’s trust Careful feeling about Delivered firm grips Precise movement Renewed determination Moving him deftly toward the descent team’s cheers Waiting on distant topside Resisting aid He reached the summit And gathering minutes of needed rest Even amidst the accolades and glee He prepared for the hard part The trek down the backside This blind climber knew Like those with eyes to see Exhaustion can make even a simple return route More dangerous than the climb With the descent team Assisting his tired body The crude trail carved For bushwhacking Brought danger often missed Until it was too late Loose scree Roots of trees Ruts and rocks With sightless vision He maneuvered the precarious path His certain smile becoming contagious Moving shaking heads of doubters once To embrace a blind climber’s wonder As their own