on (and off) mountains

Selections from a new collection of pensee on mountains, walking and viewing, a-ga, illustrated with photographs of word-mntn.





a-ga: Sanskrit, ‘mountain,
that which does not go’

the mountain is vulnerable :
with one hand
we may blot it out

we take to the mountain
for a change of air, meaning,
a change of breath.

the tiniest pebble
resting on the summit
is higher than the mountain

the deer’s place: wilderness

hills are for daydreamers;
mountains demand vigilance

he was a man of only one thought :
he had his moor on top of his mountain

(after Joë Bousquet)

a mountain can raise itself up
on a fault

a-ga, morning star, 2014; available now, £5 (plus postage)

The book was published for the exhibition Walking Poets, Dove Cottage, Ambleside.

word-mntn woodblock sculptures available from Ingleby Gallery

photography: Luke Allan, 2014