Mountain
by Leah Hesser
Arizona State University
Leah Hesser is a sophomore Biomedical Sciences major (working on a minor in Creative Writing) at Arizona State University, and is scheduled to graduate in 2023.
Mountain
Sitting on this mountain
I can feel the warmth as the sky gets darker
I can feel the rocks underneath my fingertips,
under my whole hand.
The wind blows across my face,
it brushes my forehead, my nose, kisses the tops of my cheeks.
I look at the curves of the mountains
and they are bigger than me
and everything else is small.
I crave the way they melt into each other
and how the fear and worry and sadness
melts into me at this moment
and I feel more than I have all day.
I listen to music
that makes me feel something peaceful
I can’t quite describe
and I close my eyes
and forget where I am for a second.
And I sit in it.
I feel safe.
I am alive.
I can feel the worry of tomorrow
and the sadness of everything,
but just for now I have this moment.
Sometimes I feel nothing at all.
Sometimes I want to feel nothing at all.
I want time to stand still.
I want to stay here longer.
Interview With The Author
1. What was your inspiration for this piece?
I was actually hiking one day and I just decided to start writing in the notes app on my phone. My inspiration was the mountain by my house; it’s one of my favorite places to be, especially when I want to clear my head or just sit and think.
2. What is your creative process?
Sometimes when I have something that I keep thinking about, or I feel a really strong emotion, I write it down. It’s not always in the form of a poem or anything, usually it’s sort of just like a letter to myself or a jumble of thoughts that doesn’t really make a lot of sense. And then maybe I’ll go back and use the ideas to make something out of it, but a lot of times it’s just a way to get out what’s in my head.
3. What are some influences on your artistic process?
Music is probably the main influence on my artistic process. Somehow it always helps me to make sense of whatever is happening. Also other people’s writing, art, etc. always makes me feel inspired.
4. Is there anything more you’d like our readers/viewers to know about you or your work?
Sometimes just writing something down that you notice, feel, like, or think about can turn into something really great. I've always enjoyed writing and that’s what I've started doing, and it seems like I am starting to improve my writing and it feels good!
Editors’ Comments
Capturing something vital to us all, Hesser’s poem shows that, despite whatever psychological disturbances and disruptions we might experience, our deepest hopes will always be for peace. In pointing that out, she illustrates her own psychological mastery, the kind that only comes from a peaceful mind (at least sometimes) that resists forever rushing to the next new thing, instead taking a few moments here and there to just . . . experience life and all that might mean.