Five hundred words…
A blip, a blurb,
Of every send and every slip
And every crimp and every clip
That got me to my place today
From where I sit
So far away
No medal I’ll get, no glory to stay
Forever…
For the two things that never die
Are legends and Olympians.
And in this week we’ll find the best
The highest level, the ultimate test
The fastest, the strongest, we’ll put to rest
At last, who the champion is.
And it isn’t me and it isn’t you
With medals of gold and ribbons of blue
And fingers of steel and feet like glue
We’ll see how our sport fares
Against all others out there
Ten years too late
That twist of fate
Would fill some with hate and spark debate
Of who would have won
If then was now
And we really got to see somehow
If we matched up, who’d take the cake
Fight tooth and nail, so much at stake
We wouldn’t stop
To stand atop the podium
The Games’ highest honor
It seems these days that Team USA
Is here to stay
More medals than ever
Let’s keep it that way
The season half over
And with each day
We grow as a sport, a team, and an NGB
But in the end will it really be all worth
What the future holds
Or is climbing changed forever?
The best in the world
On the rock, in the gym
What’s he thinking these days
Has anyone asked him
If he wishes he’d made
His mark and it stayed
On a wall in some hall of fame
Right next to five rings
But who can question, he’s still the king
And I’m sure it hardly feels like a sting
To watch the sport
For which he paved the way
Move forward in a totally different sway
Of the pendulum from when he got his first gold
The sweat, the blood, the hours, the tears
To chasing your dream after all those years
The work, the effort, no one just appears
Without putting in all that they have.
The ropes, the pads, the holds on the wall
Forty athletes ready to give it their all
Every ounce of them hoping that they don’t fall
And they walk away
With the ultimate crown
This poem is published in Volume 21 of The Climbing Zine
Photo of Alex by Bree Robles
