Only god shall know.

She will never stop moving
a sailboat restless at the mercy of great winds,
forever pulled by currents
no harbor can persuade to stay.

What I held was always ephemeral.
I knew it even then,
felt it in the fragile weight of it
something meant to pass through my hands.

So why did I wander her mountains,
tracing every trail,
climbing every ridge
until I was hopelessly lost among them?

Only God shall know.

And when I turned away,
when I swore I had seen enough
why did her beauty call me back,
luring me again toward distant summits?

Only God shall know.

Why did I return
to the same jagged peaks
that had already torn the soles from my feet?

Only God shall know.

Why did I cast myself
into those deep valleys of hurt,
digging a hollow so vast
I needed a rope to find my way out?

Only God shall know.

And now she greets another explorer
a new pair of boots
standing at the foot of her mountains.

Why he dares the same perilous climb,
why he believes the journey will be different

Only God shall know.