Climbing
Barry Ballard

You've brought the hardware
of suspense and enough rope
for this vertical landscape.

David Wagoner
At The Foot Of The Mountain

By now you're aquatinted with the pale ghost
sitting in the corner marking up
Wagoner's poem. He's added a footnote
to the term "vertical landscape" and roughed
out a column for what's imaginary.
He looks at you sometimes with great compassion
because this day is steeper than it needs
to be, with your fear hanging from the mountain.

And look how he shakes his head and worries
about the poem that has become more
than poetry, how it keeps you awake
to your own burning tissue, the seized-
up strain of your ascent, and the dark floor below
you concealing your slips and mistakes.

© 2002 Barry Ballard