A Moment: In the Mist

Refused the sacrament of crackers and cheese
Couldn't even p-p-p pick up a penguin
Did I pass a test?
Do I ever make correct choices?

The trio faced the hillclimb
but the pair hung back.
Didn't want to attempt it?
Or weren't allowed?
I hovered there wondering where this unknown trail led
Looking back - looking forward - undecided
I'll just go a short way through the mist
I know they'll wait for me

The bowl is vast and shrouded
The scene is familiar, though I have never been there before
When the trail ends I feel the urge to climb to the gap in the ridge
Am I a sheep or a goat?
Floats through my mind as I navigate the scree slope dusted with confectioner's snow
Giggling with the absurdity and sureality of this moment

The mist blasts over the ridgeline
alternately buffetting and carressing my body as I face into it
What lies beyond this dome of fog?
Everything I know about the world is heres(a)y
A confused conflicted jumble of opinions and beliefs
Held by factions who don't even know for certain which side they've chosen
"Turn back" the mist tells me
Each step forward is accompanied by a stronger counter-pressure
I stop
And after a moment, I return back the way I came.

Back we go,
Down Vole Street
And Arthropod Alley
Past broken pieces of ladder
Resting in the ditch
Did they once descend from above?
Or were they pulled up from below?