MUSIC FOR SALE

Two shadows drawn by the unknown
One feeds the dark — one’s cold to bone
Same shattered peak above the storm
Different paths where minds go numb

Granite teeth beneath my hands
Cliffside grins in jagged lines
Carabiners sing on steel
Frozen fingers — no more feel

Cracks run deep — my last cam set
Breathing tight with rising threat
Belay loop takes all my weight
Air is thinning in my brain

Harness bites — I take the load
Halfway up — the void below
Locked in place on sling and rope
Breathing thin — I start to choke

Tunnel vision takes the sight
Edges blur in fading white
Heartbeat pounds against the stone
Wind like static in my bones


I stand alone where silence grows
Stormlight flickers — no sunlight
Clouds devour the dying day
Every color fades to grey

Rock is cold beneath my feet
Pulse and thunder start to meet
Did I climb to feel control?
Or just to feel something at all?


Cling to the edge of the end of the world
Where silence screams and storms are hurled
Two distant hearts on separate sides
One summit where the darkness hides


Lightning splits the ancient crown
Thunder hammers the mountain down
Shattered rock begins to rain
Sky ignites in searing pain

Wind erupts along the face
Rope goes taut — I lose my pace
Every anchor starts to groan
Loose rock starts to fall below

Fingers claw the summit line
Tunnel sight — the end in mind
Grip the edge through blood and ice
One last move — no second try

Muscles fail — I drag the weight
Over stone — I haul my weight
Chest to ground — I barely breathe
Nothing left — but still I breathe

Through the glare I see a face
Hands emerge in fractured grace
Eyes half-closed in ashen grey
Fighting just to stay awake

He collapses by the rim
Breath is cold — the world is dim
I pull him close against the storm
Shield his shaking, broken form

You gave your strength to find me here
Through the storm — through doubt and fear
Stay with me — just breathe somehow
Don’t let silence take you now

Cling to the edge of the end of the world
Where silence screams and storms are hurled
Two beating hearts on separate sides
One summit where our fate collides

Clouds begin to break apart
Sunlight spills through shattered dark
Through the grey — a single ray
Burns the stormlight far away

In that glow his eyes awake
Breath returns with every shake
Lips meet slow in warming light
Safe beyond the storm’s last bite