Found
Where blizzard swept in ceaseless spindthrift
A suffocating tourbillion
Now shards of shale form harsher drift,
Fathomless, frozen shroud quite gone.
In prostrate pose of dedication
Mallory worships at his altar,
Arms outstretched in supplication,
Cast into perpetual prayer,
By avalanche and cold ice shriven,
Surrendering to their cruel caress,
Success or failure still unproven,
Atman at one with Everest.
I wrote this is 1999 when an avalanche exposed Mallory’s body on the slopes of Everest. It is I think , one of the sparest poems I have written ….although I have included qualifiers.
I have resurrected it for the dVerse challenge at http://dversepoets.com/2014/01/16/banish-boredom-rx-verbs/.
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worships….and how you play that out fits the bill perfectly….while sparse it sets the tone of his death nicely…wonder if he will forever be climbing that mountain…
Do you know, I think he might just roam those slopes for ever as you suggest
Very nicely done and perfect for the prompt. So glad you resurrected this, Sally
Thank you Victoria. I’m glad it was a good fit for your task
Great resurraction.. some awesome alliterations give additional strength,
Alliteration is a favourite tool of mine to the extent that I can overplay it sometimes. Glad you enjoyed it in this one.
arms outstretched in worship is a good way to go me thinks… you chose the words carefully… a sensitive write sally
Thank you Claudia. I agree totally…
Sally – this was powerful – a poem that needed to be read aloud.
Thank you Bill. Funnily this is one I have never read anywhere
I read it aloud – it demanded it
Sally, ‘Atman’ or ‘A man’ – I wonders..? Off to look up ‘spindthrift’ and ‘tourbillion’ 🙂 Awesome poem, though; brings you right out there where he was found – eerie. I don’t recall ever seeing that photo; it’s pretty compelling and obvious inspiration for such a poem.
Atman was invented Iain. The picture is stunning isn’t it…
Oh dear…my typing is dreadful when there is predictive stuff at work…of courses it was not invented…it was intended! Doh!
You brought this back and gave it new life – nicely done!
Thank you – it is good to meet old poems again isn’t it? They are much like old friends.