Each breath rapid and searing
Expelling clouds of crystals
Into the thin cold air
Each step a marathon
Tenzing Norgay knows the way
And pauses to reflect how
Water is making this climb
Not as mist rising off the sea
But as water walking up the mountain
Scattering gems across the ice
Across the ancient snows that
Took the easy way up
That fell over the Himalayan peaks
After a long trip abroad
Riding on sky-high winds
Those fellow children of the sea.