A bed of moss grows thick
on trunk and limb,
on rock and boulder
Thicker with every meter climbed

The air, too, grows heavy
Moisture filling our lungs
droplets condensing on our jackets,
On lichen, on branches
We ascend into the clouds.

The sounds of the rainforest—
Songbirds singing, leaves rustling, gibbons calling—
Are muffled in the stillness of the cool air
A hushed silence falls on the mountaintop.

Color drains into light and shadow
The world a black and white photograph
I pause, at peace in the calm and beauty of the moment
Awash in its serenity.

Color drains into light and shadow
The world a black and white photograph
I pause, at peace in the calm and beauty of the moment
Awash in its serenity.

Slowly, the clouds roll past
Sunlight again trickles through cracks in the canopy
The birds resume their melodies
And I press on with my journey anew.