An Ode to Hiking

A hike in Maine, there we sleep in a tent,

We shall ascend ‘round the decliv’ty trail.

At the end of the day I will be spent,

I walk sure-stepped o’er ground, laced boots not frail.

I step up ladders and rungs as I climb,

Hands grasp, thoughts whirl, grab on, quartz railings found

Still only another ascent I find,

Why can’t I just be on firm level ground?

Yet all this wond’rous nature does best sate,

The view just glimpsed past towe’ring pines so vast

Created this way, it must have been fate,

To climb down? Never, I want it to last.

Can’t take a wrong step, we’re high up, stay near,

Confined, yet only freedom I find here.

- Katie Barlow