thinking like a city

Climbing mountains is harder
than it used to be. Breathless
with the weight of addressing
the mountain while thinking
like a commuter, wondering
if the mountain's learned
to think like a city, to think
itself manufactured, to speak
the language of the latest wave
to bring the image of another place
with them when they came, the climb is
slow. The music has changed. The music
has changed. The score is a palimpsest,
the performance a dance. Only
the mountain has patience to learn it
one layer at a time.
© Steven Schroeder

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