Mark Goodwin
Boy Struggling at Birchens*
You make minute
alterations to nothing. Your posture
mimics grit’s slow changing nature.
That polished foothold mirrors
your repeated muscular thoughts.
The rope to your waist streaks
its insults as only
nylon does on stone: upwards,
effortless; gaudy line of support.
But you keep at it - grappling
in slow motion; gently hammering
at the delicate thuggery of the crack.
One foot won’t
leave the step-up-boulder that presses
into your sole, shaping deflation; stating
‘This promising launch
is stuck in the ground.’
The crystalline structure of frustration
rubbing
into you through
your pink finger skin
suddenly shatters. You crack
your movements open; expose
the yolk of flow. Up you go!
*Birchens Edge is a gritstone outcrop in Derbyshire.
Page(s) 146
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