As with a god,
One’s self may be left at ease
Experiencing the majestic
Untamed beauty of the mountain.

Like a god, a mountain
May force man to
Transend the limits
Imposed on man by man;
May open to the man
Heights never before
Dreamed of;
May release within the man
Experience only before
Thought of; but never
Experienced.

A mountain, like a god,
Demands respect;
Demands knowledge;
Demands preparedness.
It requires not blind faith,
But true knowledge,
For within every nook
Every crag and every
Cranny, potential death
Awaits.

Like a god, a mountain
Forces one to come to one’s
Own terms within one’s self;
Like a god, a mountain
Looks down on man without
Condescension; without
Ridiculing man’s seeming puniness.
For, like a god,
A mountain knows that man
Within man renders the mountain
Itself insignificant.
For, like a god,
A mountain knows that man
Within man is a god.

Is not too,
Like a man or a god,
The mountain
God?