Because It's There Poem by Hm. Nes

Climbing high above the world
Into air too thin to breathe-
For what reason?
Just to be there,
High above the world

Sailing far across the ocean,
Far from land or safe reprieve-
And the purpose?
Simply being
Far across the sea

Writing words of shapeless reason,
Navigating soul's dark deep-
'Why? ' you ask me.
Just because it's
There, so let it be

(When George Mallory was asked in 1924, 'Why do you wish to climb Mt. Everest? ' he famously replied: 'Because it's there.' Mallory's frozen remains were finally located on Mt. Everest in 1999,75 years after he ascended the mountain in an attempt to be the first westerner to summit the peak. No one knows if he made it all the way to the top.)