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Sonnets From Other Lives: Hillary & Rolf

Just before the cornice gave away
he kissed her once to celebrate the summit.
There was no time or chance for a belay--
one second’s shared awareness then the plummet--
600 meters down the icy couloir.
They were so full of life –the papers said.
Biking, snowboarding, he used to call her
his Danger Muse. They raced to stay ahead
of fate—going faster, climbing higher,
because they loved the risk, the rush, the feeling
they got dodging danger. The high wire
was where the bullshit disappeared revealing
a cleaner brighter world—or so they said.
But there’s such a thing as too close to the edge.