A Night Climber Climbs In
Buzzer off!
Rattled out, a phrase my lips
Had not shaped for a hundred years.
At length I opened a window,
Grasped a sheepskin glove
From the wind and pounding sleet outside.
How do you do?
Halfway through the frame he shed a coat
Of tanned hide and the feathers of geese;
A Toyota swerved.
When climbing the North Face
You must start from either extreme
To make the first few feet up to the window-ledge.
Buck books popped over the sill,
He rinsed water from his moustache;
I really do keep sherry
(Which was lucky for him, I guess)
And as I poured the welcome cup
It was my pleasure to tell
That Everest really had been done.