Ode to Phil


He chose to climb
The Alaskan Range
The winter of seventy-four

He stopped not at
That jagged peak
But on through heaven's door

His broken body
Was laid to rest
Beneath the frozen ground

Yet as I stand
Atop this world ...
I know its peace his soul has found.


Copyright© by Mark W. Vance Feb. 1979
(In Memory of My Cousin Ranger Phil Johnson)