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This week’s W3 Poet of the Week, the talented writer, Nigel Byng, invites us to write a paean of personal triumph.

Full guidelines below.

Nigel’s prompt: Paean of Personal Triumph

A paean is a poem of praise or celebration. Traditionally, it was written to honor a god, a victory, or a heroic achievement. In modern poetry, a paean can celebrate something more personal—a moment, a person, a turning point, or even an inner shift.

Write a paean about a moment of personal triumph. This can be something from your past, something you are currently experiencing, or something you envision for your future. The moment should feel meaningful—something that changed you, clarified something essential, or marked a quiet or dramatic victory.

Focus on what makes the moment worthy of praise. What was overcome? What shifted? What does this triumph reveal about you?

Let the tone carry a sense of recognition—earned, not inflated. Avoid generic celebration; be specific. The power of a paean comes from honoring something real.

Fear of Heights

I have that particular fear of heights where the moment I’m on a cliff or a high bridge (the Clifton Suspension Bridge springs instantly to mind), my whole body locks. Two hundred and forty-five feet above the Avon is no place for a person with my nervous disposition. Thank goodness for the mesh between me and the drop. I was splatted against it, frozen like an insect on a car windscreen, staring down into the void.

I’m always drawn to the edge, where I freeze in sheer, unmitigated PANIC. I cannot move, and yet I feel a dreadful compulsion to inch closer and closer to doom, like a moth to the flame. Chalk cliffs are a speciality. Stuck to a sheer face, stricken with fear, I have to be coaxed back down from my wildly ambitious six-foot climbs.

It took the beauty of the Lake District (and a little prodding from my other half) to persuade me to climb towards the heavens. I’m so glad I did. My paean is a hymn to facing your fears and being quietly, humbly proud of it.

Nigel’s prompt nudged me to write this small hymn of personal courage. If there is a god, he, she, or it was surely in “them thar hills.”

I hope you enjoy the accompanying song 🎶

Higher Still

Audio — Higher Still 🎶

Higher Still is a paean — a small hymn to the quiet courage it takes to climb beyond fear.

with each step 
I climb higher still
each time I slip
stones roll 
downhill

I have a fear
of height
with every inch
I climb 
nearer
to my fright

my tired limbs
ache for rest
but I must 
achieve my dream
fulfil my quest

my climb takes me 
to the precipice 
of death

I pause

for breath

at last
I reach the peak

phew,
who’d believe
what I’ve just done

I stand atop
the clouds
the view
birds wheel below
beneath a bowing sun


—Lesley Scoble, April 2026

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Acknowledgements
My thanks to Nigel for his inspirational paean prompt.
My untold thanks also to David of The Skeptic’s Kaddish, without whom many poems would remain unwritten.
And my gratitude to you, the reader, for spending this time with me.

W3 Prompt #206: Wea’ve Written Weekly