Lonely at the top…

One among the many he wasn’t to be
Something special would be served by destiny…

Such being the thought, he would work his way to it
Climb the mountain right up to the top
There would be but no other stop…

The climb was arduous, would get steeper with time
Harder and harder he pushed, for no reason or rhyme…

In the beginning, he had friends, people following the same path
The challenge as to who would climb faster egging them all on

The competition was healthy, the spirit of fun intact
Soon though, each person to himself, of the others he lost track

The helping hands replaced by pushes and pulls, jeers and jibes
All he gave, and all he got was cold stares, negative vibes

Friends, family, health, all stood by the side
A little more happiness sacrificed with every stride
There would be time for it all, but not today, he thought
At every step an unnecessary battle fought

He was higher than most, the crowd down below a mere speck to his eye
Already better than most would ever be
But he could still see a few above him
And so he continued to push up, driven by jealousy

The view was already very fine, wish he knew…
With every moment his health dipped, and the cold bites grew
Every step was a pain, every breath borrowed almost
And yet…he was higher than everyone else, almost…

People would talk about him for years to come,
But in his mind, the job still half done…

As he put his hand through the now greying hair
Ruing the sprint he had in his early days run
Experience was a long time coming,
The damage had already been done…

Often he would take a moment, catch his breath
And shout out to people below him on the path
“There’s no rush my friend, this journey’s forever going to last!”

Youth is forever impetuous though, when have they heeded advice
Can’t be seen stopping someone’s progress, never considered nice

And so, giving up on them, onward he would continue
After all, other than this climb what else did he have, what else he knew?

Age no longer on his side, breathless he grew
No longer keen to enjoy the breath-taking view
A long way indeed he had come
A lot he had lost, which would never return

Finally…he reached his goal, and collapsed
No one though, saw him in sheer exhaustion drop…
It was, after all, very lonely at the top…