Not the liberation I’d imagined – chest iron-banded
tight as a barrel, windpipe seared to wheeziness
and lactic acid lead-heavy in my legs. I lower
my carrier bag of sweater, sandwiches and drinks
and pause, my feet stretching the downhill side
of loosening shoes. I can only nod to a walker
whose taut legs, rucksack and faded shorts
rapidly diminish up the flank of Brown Cove Crags
and disappear.
I follow, haltingly, to the summit
then clamber on to Striding Edge, apprehensive
of the scree that seems to be frozen in a glissade
down to Red Tarn. No time to stay and enjoy the view:
shadow is creeping up the gentler path from Patterdale
and cirrus wisps are thickening from the north.
I scramble back to Helvellyn’s peak, then descend
the steep, still sunlit slope to my parked car,
overnight bag and tomorrow’s fresh-pressed suit.
Mantz Yorke lives in Manchester, England. His poems have appeared in print magazines, anthologies and e-magazines both in the UK and internationally. His collections Voyager and Dark Matters are published by Dempsey & Windle.
Featured image “Helvellyn: Striding Edge” by Michael Day CC BY 2.0
