The climber does not want to drown, of course.


They say drowning is the worst way to go.
You feel every second of it, there is no
lightheaded ecstasy, nor an adrenalin rush,
just fearful thrashing around and such.

The climber was also told that it was a sin,
to succumb so willingly; and honestly even
if it hadn't been one, the climber was scared
of the possibility of recourse. "What if I cared

just a second too late, and as I struggled to
get my failing limbs out of the water, I knew
that my life was over not because of another's
hate, but my own inability to find the answers

to the pain that I feel. What if relief will
not come from a lack of feeling? and if I kill
myself to escape feeling, then I will never
know what it would be like to feel better,

rather than experience a cold, dark empty."
So the climber does not do any more than see
the water ripple and reflect. After some time,
they turn their back to it, and begin the climb.
