From England's Green and Pleasant Land 
  Robin Hickman

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 Everest

I was just a baby,
a few months old.
When on the day of her Coronation,
Queen Elizabeth was told.
How two men had conquered,
the world's highest mountain.
Climbed to the top of Mount Everest.

Others had tried before them,
some they had come close.
Mallory and Irvine died in 1924,
not quite reaching their goal.
Asked many times "Why climb Everest?"
Mallory had replied,
"Because it's there"
which to me,
is a good enough reason why they tried.

Was I told by my mother,
as I lay there,
gurgling in my pram.
That Hillary and Tenzing had made it to the summit,
stood on top of the world?
Many have succeeded in climbing Everest,
since that Spring of 1953.
Others have died in the attempt,
their bodies buried beneath the snow.

No stirring speech about "A Giant Leap For Mankind"
or even "I Have A Dream"
On that momentous day in history,
as Hillary rushed down the mountain-side.
He shouted to his friend,
these few immortal words,
to let him know they'd made it.
"Well George, We Finally Knocked The Bastard Off!"


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