A seasoned mountaineer with
Pack, crampons, ropes, rappelling device,
Avalanche transmitter, GPS, altimeter
At the ready, living off roots, berries,
An occasional marmot or mouse,
He had been climbing for weeks
When he rounded a high ridge and
Saw the mountain peak in the clouds
Looming above all others.
++++
A wind blew and the clouds skipped away
Was he hallucinating? Dreaming?
He had seen fires, but this one
Consumed the entire mountain top
Where there was nothing flammable
The trees and vegetation up to 11,000 feet
Unharmed, a fire blazing above timberline
Consuming nothing, yet fearful,
Menacing, threatening, fascinating.
++++
He was miles away but could feel the heat as
Something ineffable drew him on –
Down the mountain, through the valley
Filled with pristine streams and brown trout
Up the blazing mountain
Burning, glowing above him, and yet,
Not spreading, not incinerating anything
Frightened, he huddled in the pines
Still mysteriously compelled to climb.
++++
He instinctively took cover from
A blast of tornadic winds
Blowing apart boulders,
Ripping trees up by the roots and
Sending them flying like arrows.
It passed, and the blazing peak beckoned
Gingerly, he climbed, up, up to the
Edge of the fire – it’s heat now
Welcoming, warming, calling.
++++
Through the heat waves be saw a
Figure, a being, unhurt, unburnt,
Seemingly at home in the fire
It seemed to be smiling and gesturing,
Bidding him advance into the blaze
Trembling, he froze for what seemed like
Years, unable to move, barely able to
Breathe, much less climb into a fire
That appeared to not even hurt the permafrost.
++++
At last, he gained courage, still trembling,
He climbed on all fours into the fire where to
His surprise, he felt a searing pain as all his
Façades and personas, all his treasured
Self-reliance and worldly wisdom,
Vanished in the conflagration. He
Writhed and cried, but could not
Escape, held by invisible hands, and then …
+++
The pain evaporated and peace reigned.
The Word in Focus with Dr Larry Taylor 
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