The Mountain We Climb

We do not ascend alone.

None of us are alone on the mountain.

We have our gear, backpacks, our crampons and axes,
but we carry so much more.

The words and wishes of friends,
the legacy of ancestors,
the guidance of spirits.

We don’t walk the high peaks alone.
We do it with everyone who has ever mattered.

And in the silence of the mountains
and drifting clouds,
we converse with them
with every step.

We reunite in the most treacherous parts.

They hold our hands
and our hearts.

It is not just the mountain we climb.

It is not alone that we ascend.

A poem by Pemba Umoja