See that mountain up ahead
The one you reach while still in bed
Claw your weight up the iced trek
And snap the sinew in God’s neck
You will make Him hang up there
A disfigured corpse freed from care
His head fallen to the side
Like the Moon ripped down to her tide
And then you will be alone
No conscience gnawing at your bone
Just you on your mountaintop
One step removed from your last drop
But if you just stand in place
Close your eyes and defy His face
You will be the snow clad king
Grendel’s face inscribed on your ring
A fossil god hikers find
When freed from your snow blanket bind
Taken down and thawed in fire
The crackling flame your heaven’s choir
Till your sinew snaps in two
And your own head falls to your shoe
Your fate and God’s intertwined
Where the snow drifts so soft and kind
