Montenvers was first,
Air unexpectedly warm
As we descended unversed
To its diminished form.

Theodul came next,
Under the Matterhorn
Whose history as well
We’d yet learned to mourn.

Walking on glaciers
To dance a serenade,
Today is our only chance
To put footprints where we played.

The floes beneath our feet
Are memories that fade,
Melting tears as we glance
Upon frozen fields’ decayed.

Snow thaws as chill abates
Hairs gray while we pretend
That it is our fate
To be here tomorrow.

We grew into soulmates
Near our days’ end
On ice where we came late
To share a glacier’s sorrow.

The katabatic wind said
For love we hadn’t been ready.
Long were the paths that led
Each to this splendor.

Seasons passed before our time,
Until devotion could steady
On these glaciers we climb,
To watch the ice surrender.

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© 2023-25 by Dean Jen