Gabe's off with friends, road trip to Valley View Gadzooks, oh my No work on Friday Which of a quadrillion projects Will I pursue? There are poems to be birthed Sculptures to be honed Power bars to be cooked Appointments to be booked But the Big One, that towers over all The Once a year, Grandfather From which one mustn't stumble or fall Elevation of fourteen thousand, two hundred fifty five feet Of 15 miles of hiking, massive and sweet Says now or never, tiny mortalβ¦! I must summit Longs Peak Inside me the need churns To visit the Old One, & learn what I must There are memories to be made, lessons to be learned And learn what I must Before I turn to dust