Why the Mountain is Still There
A thousand years ago
the mountain yawned.
It shook
it stretched
it shifted
sending rocks down
its sides.
“I am tired
of holding up the sky,” it said.
“Are you sure you still need it?”
The people trembled.
How should they
speak
to a mountain?
But the child
was not afraid.
“I see birds flying free.
I see stars ablaze at night.
I see clouds dance with the wind.
Sometimes,” they said,
“..the sky is all I have.”
And this is why
the mountain
is still there.
the mountain yawned.
It shook
it stretched
it shifted
sending rocks down
its sides.
“I am tired
of holding up the sky,” it said.
“Are you sure you still need it?”
The people trembled.
How should they
speak
to a mountain?
But the child
was not afraid.
“I see birds flying free.
I see stars ablaze at night.
I see clouds dance with the wind.
Sometimes,” they said,
“..the sky is all I have.”
And this is why
the mountain
is still there.
This poem is copyright (©) Melinda Szymanik 2026
About the Writer
Melinda Szymanik
Melinda is an award-winning New Zealand author of picture books, short stories and novels for children and young adults. Notable titles include The Were-Nana (Scholastic, 2008) winner of Children’s Choice at the 2009 NZ Post Children’s Book Awards, A Winter’s Day in 1939 (Scholastic, 2013) winner of Librarian’s Choice at the 2014 LIANZA Awards, and Fuzzy Doodle (Scholastic, 2016) a 2017 White Raven selection. She also writes poetry for adults and children, and regularly teaches creative writing.
