Dream of Olympos

I had travelled all night long.
By train, by boat, by foot
Hiked up Mt Olympos
On the Summit, I stood
An ordinary mountain
No gods or mountain nymphs
Desolate and empty
They said to me,
From across the distance
“Take a leap of faith.”

Misty air cleared
Revealing the other side
Impossible angle, upward
Rocky and flat
Too far to jump
Maybe
I made careful measure
With yard stick and string
Calculated risk and possibility

Peering over the edge
Into misty depths;
A fall of unknown height
A death of known quality:
The cost of failure.
I could not leap.

So I made a bridge of twine
Well-knotted
Complicated
Calculated to support my weight
And lassoed the rock
And crawled.

The illusory “other side”
Vanished
It never had been
The bridge fell away
The misty air supported me
And Hera picked me up
and sat me at the table

“A leap of faith is not to anywhere”
Said she, “It is the destination.”