Pure, dazzling white Miles of ice blend with miles of snow and snow-covered rock which can be deadly if you don’t know where to look A solitary climber winds his way up this mountain stopping only now and then to adjust his tinted snow goggles This high up he almost feels ill overwhelmed by the sheer altitude of this mountain which he has come to love in a way as his own the altitude of his mountain can do this to people — make them feel so ill that they never make it up to the summit but he will he vows this to himself Each step is a mountain in itself the snow is quicksand it wants to drag him down with every step he takes but he fights back and wins this battle thinking only of the summit the very top oh the view from the summit nothing else is on his mind not even the ever-diminishing speed of his steps He sees the snow is ending—could it be the summit is only fifty yards away? He quickens his pace His struggles are pushed like mere toys to the back of his mind with one last step a step taken more by determination and resolve than by the energy of his body and his feet He reaches the summit and looks down Emily Riippa,13Grand Rapids, Michigan
Poetry-Sports
Back Down to Earth
The wind is in my hair as I kick with my foot The rhythm of my wheels on the cracks of the sidewalk Thu-thump, thu-thump, thu-thump The curb is coming to meet me at the end of the block It draws closer and closer Its short drop seeming like a cliff I lean back slightly, about to go off And then it happens That sweet split-second in which I am flying, untouched by worldly problems Just flying Then, as my wheels touch down, the entire world comes back in a single gust of wind Thu-thump, thu-thump, thu-thump Back down to earth on my skateboard Jacob Dysart, 13Long Beach, California
I Taste the Sky
We fly like falcons over sheets of soft snow Listening to the distant kinks and grinds of steel against rails The scent of snow cools my mind And I taste the blueness of the sky Isaac Kamgar, 11Laguna Beach, California
