I hit the sky, yet never leave the ground, The apex of heights, in full glory crowned. Ambition-fueled climb, few dare the time, To reach the point that crowns the climb.

I am old and grey, I am passing over this place. Yet I will stand my ground, I am willing to die in this place. But they tell me that I am making a big deal out of small things.

I start twice the same, like a stutter in thought, End with a vessel that Noah once sought. I burrow for dinner where night insects hide, With stripes on my snout and a tongue far too wide. I’m first in a book but last to be guessed. A mammal so odd I confuse every test.

In ancient depths, I silently roam, armored with scales as my timeless throne. By caviar's fame, I am known, a prehistoric swimmer in a river's flowing home.

Sometimes when you look at me, you see yourself, sometimes you see into me, I am often fresh but sometimes salty, Beneath my surface is another world of animals and plants, I am bounded all around by land