Summit Poem by Sasanka Sekhar Panda

To reach the summit of the Himalayas
you have to go through the dales of flowers,
the mountain streams and the beautiful lakes
and the rugged path full of stones,
then only you can reach the no men's land
where the gods and Rishis*
are believed to be living for ages
for a millenniums.
There you will find the ridges
forming tall columns,
embedded with silence.
Once you reach the summit
above that spreads the vast expanse
of the limitless sky
the endless blue and
you can feel the ecstasy
the eternal joy of living.

*Rishis: The ancient sages of India.