do a checklist before beginning:
helmet
harness
shoes
carabiners
webbing
cords
oxygen canisters
fuel
food
etc.
check weather reports.
set up a base camp.

in the helicopter
the blades reminded you
of the ceiling fan
in the hostel
in Bangkok
last year.

all right
up you go
(as your father once said
handing small you
onto the monkey bars)
this is it.
the world now boils down
to snow
ice
crevasses
ridges
storms
wind
whiteness.

at the summit,
you're as winded as you were
when she left you.
you needed a challenge
and here it is, so
pose
for a picture
plant
a flag.
be Sir Edmund for a minute

but
Tenzig Norgay knew
that everything
worth having
was
back in Lukla
Kathmandu
Casablanca
or Hometown, USA.
even the cat
knew that.
why didn't you?