I climbed

I Climbed

I climbed
steep paths
with dogs
chasing phantasies
and
the smell of urine

Heart pounding
till
I could hear it
in my ears
and feel it
fill my breast

On to
where
the adamantine
Smuts
stepped
his
one thought
to stay alive

Past the
precursor
to heather
and the
oldest of plants
still living

To rocks
full
of deep holes
providing myriad
entrances to hell
or homes
for
the only relative
of the
elephant

Where howls
the wind
lifting you
as a hawk
and tossing you 
to the
azure Atlantic

Here you
can look
to the South
over
Vasco’s Cape
seeking
like the
tireless Scott
the icy wastes
of Antarctica

Stand then
and drink
with me
of nature
knowing
the wind
the earth
and the sea