The Man Who Lives In The Mountains, Welcome Home – Poems by Tui Kraal

The man who lives in the mountains is free.

He must be, if he is to go beyond the reaches of the forest, and find his path to the summit.

The man who lives in the mountains is determined.

He pushes through with gritted teeth and an icy beard, because he knows what richness will reward him at the top.

The man who lives in the mountains is patient.

He has to retrace his steps a thousand times over, taking two forward and one back.

The man who lives in the mountains is honest.

He will tell himself if it is too much, turn around, and leave the tempting treasure for another day.

The man who lives in the mountains can see beauty.

Not just in the summit view, but in every aching step that lead him there.

The man who lives in the mountains will never leave them.

For he has felt the freedom of the wind, battled storms and frozen bones, and intimately trod his path in the snow, all for that triumphant moment when the sunrise hits the summit.

He has left a part of his heart in the care of their elevated majesty, a part which can never be taken back.

And the space it leaves will be filled with a feeling of content. The mountains now live in the man.

Welcome Home

To be at peace in the wild

See the beauty in aching steps

Feel the day extend forever

We can’t know what is to come next

The thrill of the chase will excite you

Clouds sprinting away from the sun

Revealing the valley beneath them

Far below shining peaks they now shun

This is the path that enthrals us

Adventure and risk, they are rife

And sometimes our luck disappoints us

Sometimes Mother Earth takes a life

And all you can do is keep breathing

Continue as well as you can

Remember those souls who walked with you

Remember their spirits, my friend

For someday, up away on that ridge top

Or anywhere else you may roam

The ice and the snow will be calling

The mountains will welcome you home.

Boths Poems in memory of Ari Kingan

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