Integrating two of the things I enjoy the most doing—rock climbing and photography.
Photo and Poem contribution : Calla Paleczny
I wish I could climb to my Beloved
feel my toes launch off of the highest piece of rock
and be lifted into the firmament
my rope won’t hold me to the earth
for I will see that it has never been there
each clip
each bolt
was a generous gift to comfort me in my human-ness
anguish is submersion in the dust of crumbling rock
it is distance from the melodies of “all songs are from the King”
it is not welcome, nay not possible in the aether of “trust in God”
not found on the mountain I slowly climb named “in thy soul of love, build thou a fire”
Grace has joined me on this mountain
whispering secrets into my ear “listen daughter of the kingdom”
coaxing me to slowly empty the seams of my garments of pebbles
that I have sewn in as excuses
I have been nudged lovingly with pockets in the rock for my fingers
small ledges for my toes “climb on, Kinglet”
footholds have been felled from under my feet
when I linger too long in places where I cannot stay but am unwilling
to leave
I have wet the rock with bitter tears
that were dried once again by the winds of
“graciously bestow a pair of heavenly wings unto each of these fledglings”
and I have climbed on
with these wings
my Beloved will not care for the excuses I made on this journey, nor for the numerousness of my failures yet I will face what I have done here on the cliff of
“if there be no pain, this journey will never end.”
my hands will wear and knot from the rock,
even as I journey through the “oceans of grandeur”
my feet will become agile and trustworthy,
even as I am dismantled, dispersed and absorbed into “poverty and absolute nothingness”
though all the while— roped to the earth
my soul will soar
beyond blue skies
beyond winter storms
beyond the “world of time”
dancing in the world of “perpetuity” or perhaps even “eternity”
and there I will be incorruptibly
happy
free
beyond
This beautiful poem was written by my friend Calla Paleczny