Surviving the Storm

©Janet Henderson 2019

Struggle against ferocious wind,
kagoule drenched in minutes
seams breached by sweat-mingled moisture
dripping between shoulder blades;
descending mist chokes peaty scent of heather
obliterating landmark and horizon,
disorienting map and compass
as land and sky shrink.

Isolation shivers down the spine;
eerie, this private sodden 
cathedral, birds long flown,
might pitted against capricious 
gods flinging thunder,
magnesium-streaking the sky,
obscuring crag and gulley,
rendering life precarious.

Crouch still amid the chaos,
keep small, well-earthed
as hidden forces swirl
overhead and underfoot. Submit
in space and time until the land
tilts on its axis, the gale subsides,
the mist's skirts lift, shaking out rain
and cloud and a moorland sheep track.

©Janet Henderson 3rd September 2019