More Mountains

Photo by R William Parmenter

There are always more mountains —
Their sun glanced peaks rise,
Looming from a far future horizon.

The cloud-hidden ranges of the past
Fade into memory —
Those struggles far behind.

Between all the ups and downs
There have been valleys of growth,
But also stagnant swamps and complacent plains.

There’s always more work to do —

So, I plant an unsteady foot,
Reach with a bruised, bloodied hand,
And continue up this mountain I climb.

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This poem was originally published on my blog.

After the clouds cleared one morning, I could see more of the mountains in the distance. This poem came to me as I thought, there are always more mountains. I started considering how we all have these mountains we’re climbing, all the ones we’ve already climbed, and all the things in between.

Keep climbing your mountain, but remember to stop and take in the view — reflect on how far you’ve come.

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Speaking of my blog, mostly everything I publish there will be published here. There are some things that my website newsletter subscribers will receive that won’t be published here, such as, book release announcements, writing life updates, and other things not poetry related. On Substack, everything will be mostly poetry related. Any prompts or features I’m involved in on Substack will only be published here, and not on my website.

Overall, I wanted to provide another platform that people could use if they don’t want to sign-up for Substack or another social media platform. Not everyone is on all these different platforms, and I think it is important for authors and writers to have their own blog so that our audience can reach us in their preferred format. Not to mention, what if these platforms up and disappear? Or experience a days long crash? A blog and website can be a base of operations for news and announcements — maybe even to sell books!

If you’re interested in viewing my website, you can find it here: https://rwilliamparmenter.com/

As always, thank you for reading and checking out my work!

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