Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary enjoy a cup of tea when they are unexpectedly visited by the third to reach the summit.
Everyone knows the storilly
Of brave Sherpa Tenzing
And laconic Edmund Hillary
And their remarkable ascending.
Many people remember
That Hillary took of Norgay
A photograph of splendour
To mark their little foray.
Hillary left a cross there
Up on the windswept top
And maybe he said a prayer
On their fifteen minute stop.
And it's true, tho' you may not know
That Norgay left something too
Buried slightly in the snow
Before he too, withdrew.
One glossy chocolate
As an offering to ... what?
Perhaps t'was past its use-by-date
Or, then again, perhaps not.
Carefully they went back down
The way they'd clambered up.
And before too long these two renown
Had hot soup in a cup.
But less commonly known
Is the third to top the bastard.
For the third ascent was lone,
So verily, better mastered.
For Sherpas often privately speak
Of a creature very hefty
Who'd climb the highest mountain peak
For a single chocolate: Yeti.
Hmmm. In fact make that a Hmmmmm.
ReplyDeleteSuch poetic talent revealed! I say throw away the pastels and the paints, the charcoal and the canvases for it's time for you to embark on a new career as New Zealand's answer to Carol Ann Duffy. May I take a single grain of satisfaction from the knowledge that I may have sparked your muse?
ReplyDelete(Glancing at fingernails modestly) well, actually, I thought it was rather fun, myself.
ReplyDeleteWait...what? You wrote this, Kate?
ReplyDeleteWell done!
I was laughing all the way to the airport. Very nicely done! (posted over a very slow connection with a very old phone)
ReplyDeleteI agree with mr fox
ReplyDeletecouldnt say it better myself
In my Perfect Rhymes class, I learned that Yeti doesn't rhyme with hefty. Yeti rhymes with confetti.
ReplyDelete