‘Those Catskill Mountain Climbs’ and Other Poetry by Brandon Berman The Society November 24, 2013 Beauty, Poetry 1 Comment Those Catskill Mountain Climbs I’ve walked from Ayers rock to Sydney I’ve seen all those majestic sites I’ve beheld the peaks of Mt. McKinley And of Everest in all its might I’ve seen the meandering Nile I’ve walked the great Silk Road I’ve beheld the beautiful Fiji Isle And the tropical Amazon as it flowed Yes, I’ve travelled long cross land and sea, I’ve walked the world a thousand times. Yet even so there’s no place I’d rather be, Than on those Catskill mountain climbs For when you encounter those rolling hills You’ll find that you have lost your breath For it’s been taken by those forests still That alone hold back the hands of death Oh, to walk the land of little rivers And see gurgling mountain streams Will send down your spine prickling shivers And a feeling from your wildest dreams For here are trees strong and tall Forests shadowed, calm, and cool And birds sing and chirp and call While deer drink from mountain pools And hidden among the beautiful rocks Are animals large and small And if you’re as sly as a fox You can hear them speak and call Oh, there’s beauty buried in those hills And as you walk you’ll find That the scenery gives you chills For you’ve never seen anything of its kind And as you’re trekking up hills steep You’ll enjoy the fresh pine smells And in your heart you’ll forever keep The beauty you find in those hidden dells There’s no place like it on Earth No better place to spend your time For if you know their hidden worth You’ll love those Catskill mountain climbs A World Alone A man may believe what he wants Who am I to say otherwise? But there is a thing that daunts My soul and makes my heart rate rise For some out there smile in glee When they say that there is no He; No one who created our world, Just a universe naturally unfurled Now I have no problem with this thought But by their joy in this I am caught For to me this would be a sad reality That we are truly limited to our mortality For I’d rather rot to my bones Than contemplate a world alone Brandon Berman is a student at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, the beautiful and natural scenery of which is a major inspiration for much of his poetry. He has been writing poetry since he was 13 and has been previously published twice in the modern-classical poetry journal Poetica Victorian. Featured Image: ‘The Catskills’ by Asher Brown Durand. NOTE: The Society considers this page, where your poetry resides, to be your residence as well, where you may invite family, friends, and others to visit. Feel free to treat this page as your home and remove anyone here who disrespects you. Simply send an email to mbryant@classicalpoets.org. Put “Remove Comment” in the subject line and list which comments you would like removed. The Society does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or comments and reserves the right to remove any comments to maintain the decorum of this website and the integrity of the Society. Please see our Comments Policy here. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) One Response Angela November 24, 2013 Talented poet and well written. Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.