Her voice was as the sirens of past, the lovely melodies that nearly entranced Homer to a treacherous fate upon the sea
Tucked deep in the mountains the ocean was far from reach, yet her voice still called out to me
Subtle at first, muffled by whipping winds full of snow coming from all directions
Yet amidst all the ambient noise her voice still garnered my inspection
Flakes of snow shone bright within the cloud that nestled upon us, my headlamp casting an eerie reflection
Her voice cut through the noise yet again, soothing beckoning me to return
Pressing on higher my legs ached and burned
I felt them beg and yearn
For the rest she had offered, a moment to reside upon this ***** steep and unsteady
My body craved the break, this pack seemed to grow heavy
I pressed on
Praying the metallic clang of my ice axe across the rocks buried deep in the snow would block out her song
The melodic thump of my boots sinking into the snow with every kick step
I could hear my breath
Straining the higher we'd climb
Her voice began to penetrate my mind
I felt uneasy, never ready to face her I always looked higher, finally I took a glimpse behind
There she was beckoning me to jettison into her cold embrace
She had no face, there was no physical form to be had, lost in the midst
I heard her calling out my name, begging for my soul, I hear her calling...I hear the abyss
The idea for this first popped into my head last week on a climb in the mountains of Alaska. We were headed up a steep snow chute towards a peak around 4:30am, it was pitch black and the wind was howling and all we could see below us was this black abyss and it was mildly haunting to stare down into nothing. I feel like that will stick with me forever.