I just kept climbing
Branch after branch
Tough love on my tail
No way to turn back
Higher and higher
I never looked down
To ponder the danger
Of shrinking the ground
Beyond trouble’s reach
I stopped for a breath
Both hands were shaking
Heart pounding my chest
The adrenaline rush
That fuels fight or flight
Was quickly subsiding
At a dizzying height
Just then I was struck
By a cold gust of fear
I saw no safe passage
No way down from here
Frozen and panicked
Limbs wrapping the tree
I tried every signal
But no one would see
By now I know well
Life stops for no man
There will be no rescue
Not even a plan
I will not surrender
Resigned to a fate
Of being forgotten
Or found just too late
Alone I must unwind
My reckless ascent
One branch at a time
Even ones that I bent
Where just one false step
Will forfeit the fight
Between this frail body
And gravity’s might
-Rondym Kiefe