It stands there oblivious to its mystic powers.
Brilliant stars crown this stately majesty;
The clouds provide its velvet cloak;
a towering rock its scepter;
the winds its towering voice.
Many are driven to conquer the mountain.
Ancient spirits embodied within the rock
lament the victims who dared
to challenge its luring magnificence.
What does the mountain represent?
Challenge or obstacle, beauty or fear,
Grandeur or danger?
To us poor souls, the mountain defies our mortality.
—Kathleen Ellis Faulkner
