Pivotal Perspectives

PIVOTAL PERSPECTIVES

(Lawrence Helm)

I drove in my last piton,

Hanging down six hundred

Feet above the canyon floor

(Falling would take a long time).

My sweaty fingers shook

As I strung my line anew

And swung to the new location.

At some point words will

Fail and I'll fall flailing

And protesting down

Toward the long standing

Rubble with consternation,

But for now I retrieve

The previous and

Set it firmly on the

Edge, screwing it in

And seeing the way

Up even if I have

To merely climb the rest

Instead of setting one

More piton half way

Beyond what I will need,

Freeing my mind to

Contemplate the edge

From a new perspective

As though I had arrived

At new understanding rather

Than a place I must climb down from.