Mount Whitney Rhapsody

Mount Whitney Rhapsody

The highest mountain in the Lower Forty-
Eight at just under 15,000 feet and is
located above Lone Pine, California...

Part One: The Dream - A Vision of Beauty

Mount Whitney rises skyward high,
a vision that emotes a sigh
from deep within my heart set free
that yearns to be within her lee.
Her coat is dusted-mantel white.
Her visage stirs my inner sight.
Drift snow adorns her lofty spires
where playful clouds change by the hour.
I hear her spirit call my name
to come above her tree-lined frame
beyond the pristine lakes below
and flowered meadows sheltered so.
My spirit told me all in all
that I must listen to her call
before my body's strength is o'er
or my life on Earth becomes no more.
And what remains is silent grief
because our passing is so brief,
so I must heed her spirit's call
to know this love before my fall.

Part Two: The Climb - One Step at a Time

The dream of climbing Mount Whitney
is now for me a memory,
but she has spoken to my heart
a lesson that will not depart.
To dream of climbing mountains high
whose spires rise t'wards heaven's sky
is more than dreams of ones bold heart.
The body, too, must be a part
for it's the body that must take
the heart's desire for its sake
and bear the pain of flesh and spirit
that ebbs and flows with unsung merit.
Thus since the journey is so long
the heart must not burst into song,
or else the dream-song may not be
but end too soon in misery.
Mount Whitney is climbed not by the mile
no matter how sublime her pile.
To stand upon her summit's spine
is done but one step at a time.

Part Three: The Remembrance - The Wounded Love

It has been said since days of old
that it's the journey that is gold
and not the goal within the heart
that all too soon may e'er depart.
Not so my love of which I sought
that could not cheaply be so bought,
the climbing of Mount Whitney high,
a vision that emotes a sigh
where to attain her summit's spine
one must take one step at a time.
So as I sat in reverie
and thought on all that I did see
while standing on her highest point
that did my heart and soul anoint
for from the pain of body and mind
I thought of her in memory kind.
So I had heeded her spirit's call
to know this love before my fall,
and thus until the day I die
I'll view Mount Whitney with a sigh .

Maggie Red Rose