Sweat

Sweat and the sea are salty

and alike.

A lazy man and a corpse
never sweat.

Mountaineers mount up
the slithery mounts.
Resistance yields, dissolving
in sweat.
Seeds sprout in the fallen beads,
life-drops.

Success floats in sweat, depositing
fresh joys.

Each victory in the history sparkles
through sweat.

First published in The Literary Hatchet