Sad man

Sad man brandish your surly talisman to ward away pity!
But what would you do were I to damn you as you have damned yourself?

Gathered were we, beneath the canopy that grew at the foot of your mountain;
Entranced by your laborious climb;

When you lingered on crevasse lip
We cried "Care!"
When you slipped on the sun-stroked ice
Our breath stopped.
When you teetered on rock chimney
We panicked.

And never once did we withdraw our extended hands and hopes
Though you spurned them;

And now you've fallen --fallen down and are broken;
Do you blame us if we now turn away?