Rhett W. Schiller 

Racine, WI, USA 

  
 
 

I was born in Racine, Wisconsin. It is in the Southeast corner of the state. I was born in 1980 and I am currently enrolled in the Shanghai American School. This is in Shanghai, China where a great deal of development is going on that has attracted many foreign investors. I will be graduating in the spring of 1999. After graduation, I plan on continuing to study. The picture to the right was taken in Beijing, very close to Tianamen square where the massive crackdown in 1989 took place. I am on the right.
 

Peak Experiences

He packed his bag tight 
and said his good-byes. 
No one thought he could do it, 
He knew he would conquer it 
or Die! 

On his way up 
he nearly perished twice. 
No one thought he could do it, 
He knew he could conquer it 
If his body would suffice! 

Then, when he reached the top 
of that picturesque peak 
Too high for anyone else to see, 
yet still full of ecstasy 
Ineffably lost to the breeze.

. . . A dusty Mask . . . 

Insight grew 
from the light seeping through 
the cracked open door 
at the top of the steps; 
as I progressed. 

Without the intermittent light 
feeding my sight 
I would be disillusioned by 
the monotonous layers; 
of the lifeless stairs. 

But the light keeps me up 
from the hard, cold step 
shining through the layers 
of interminable regret; 
growing on each step. 

And as I shut the door 
with nothing more, 
the echoes of old steps 
scream as they are swept away: 
They say, stay, stay, stay . . . 
All poems Copyright © 1998 Rhett W. Schiller. All rights reserved.