Not Everest

Refusing to climb the mountain
you know will kill you
Is not passivity
Spending money and time accumulating gear
Getting to the base
Hiring a Sherpa
These are all steps in your procession
Because you will run out of oxygen
And fall asleep there on an outcropping
Perhaps your hypoxic dreams will be exciting
But you won't wake
Your body frozen in place
A monument of predestined failure
You will be a landmark to those who follow you
"At Green Boots, you're halfway"
Because the search and recovery process
Is too dangerous
And too expensive
For anyone to mount
Your best hope may be that someone
Will kick you off the side
Send you for one last flight
Before shattering on the ground
A perverted sky burial

Better to save the effort
Mount smaller, survivable expeditions
Put something toward retirement
Fill shelves with photo albums
And die quietly with those who love you
The Last Stand isn't as heroic as it sounds