The closing chapter,
the final leg,
I’m almost home.

No longer looking
back but forward,
my destination
hoves into view;
the uneven creasing
of the spine
accompanied by
evasive wriggling.

Compelled I pick
up speed. I find
I’m skipping words
and tumbling over
myself to reach the
closing full stop.

But even as
I strive, inside
a simultaneous
braking competes.
Although my story
draws me on
I find I do
not want my journey’s
end. Not yet.

I’m currently reading Simon Armitage’s ‘Walking Home’, the account of his journey along the Pennine Way, enabled by the hospitality of strangers and poetry readings. Towards the end he recounts the unexpected feeling of not being elated at approaching home, having slipped into the habitualised routine of walking; a feeling not confined to walking.
(27.03.23)

© Ben Quant 2023
Photo by Lucrezia Carnelos on Unsplash