(after Robert Frost)
I haul my toboggan up the hill…
a way to go, and oh so slow;
but that of course is snow.
I put my hands together and blow,
I have the urge, the will; I must
get to the top…
then stop. For this is why I came
so perilously high –
to brush these clouds in communion;
greet the rising sun, then…
know the thrill
of going down!
But, here I am the clown:
the journey up took far too long;
now the run is
past – and gone.
And that of course is snow –
I know, I know!
– Poem by Pete Mullineaux
Pete Mullineaux lives in Galway, Ireland and teaches global issues through poetry and drama. He’s been published and anthologised in several eco journals: Ecocitizen, Poems for Pacuare, Journal of Wild Culture, Avocet, (USA) Channel (Dublin) Rebeltalk (UK). He’s published four collections, most recently How to Bake a Planet (Salmon Poetry).