When Mountains Speak
By John Herlihy

I
Mountains are known for their stern face;
They gaze majestically down upon the human race.
The scope of their silence is proverbial;
The source of their origin is primordial.
Mountains have adopted their own way;
When mountains speak, they have something to say.
They chant rhymes in verses from the back side of terrain;
They create enchanting voices that sing in refrain.
They cascade one over the other endlessly into the distance;
They offer the mountain climber fearsome, deadly resistance.
You can find them on their own like sleeping behemoths,
Or they gather in herds peeking shyly from their zenith.
The seasons they defy by wearing caps of snow;
They jeer summer’s plenitude on the plains below.

II
Like kings, they wear cloaks of ermine and crowns of snow;
That glisten in the sun from the peaks of Everest to Kilimanjaro.
The mountains wrap us protectively in their fierce embrace;
Within their craggy folds lie impressions of the human face.
When a man enters the mountains, the unexpected he will meet;
There are challenges to overcome not found in the street.
Wherever mountains arise you will no doubt find,
A place remote and distance from the likes of humankind.
They have been lovingly thrown down by the Divine Hand,
Designed to endure what no human could possibly withstand.
They stand in the distance with infinity in their winter halls;
Thunderbolts sound in the valleys while feathery snow gently falls,
That covers the rolling highlands to the horizon in a solemn peace.
Earth reaches for Heaven with a stark simplicity that will never cease.