Joseph’s song: Langlauf

As I
push this
weight on
one ski
and other,

as I
haul this
weight on
one pole
and other
I’m thinking,

the week we left we told our friends over supper,
‘the thing with langlauf is it doesn’t have to be tiring, you can just shuffle along’.

We said that,
thought that
to convince ourselves
that if they just understood they’d all join us.

But that’s not possible.
On this icy plateau
there’s a loip no-one else can follow:
we‘re alone with a question
for tomorrow and tomorrow.

Now the land is an empty page,
the sky a blank monitor;
I turn, you’re asleep on the sleigh;
oh, the sun seems to rest on your shoulder!

Mary, I know it is you who carries the weight
but I am struggling for faith.
The angel never spoke to me
and my fear has become so solitary.

2007