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1 Sep, 2023

I can’t help it

promo_walking_away_1b no text copy

Longlisted for the Write about Walking A/way competition 2023


Parts of me are old as trees,
that creak and knock,
and want to sit dreaming in the sun,
while crowds of children
shout and play, keep me awake seeking
games and lessons,
and need to run.

Tired and gnarled in twiggy woods,
as puppet butterflies
bounce on strings in the morning glare,
greybeard evergreens make
a green tunnel into the heart of me,
trouble my eyes and
disturb my hair.

Or under blankets of messy stars,
nightshade sleeping draughts
of dolorous concoction drip
in my lazy dreams,
while flowers grown high above the window
tap and demand
companionship.

I cannot walk away.

Even in silent meditations
my stillness is all tic and sway,
a constant flickering trance
along a vagal memory
of walking done and yet to do, incessant
tyrant rhythms
of step and dance.

I cannot help but carry on,
and walk, run, play ‘til
some yet unforeseen lightning flash
brings my branches down,
to be a brown house for ceaseless insects,
in the striving weeds
and fertile ash.

APA style reference

Martin, J. (2023). I can’t help it. walk · listen · create. https://walklistencreate.org/2023/09/01/i-cant-help-it/

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flakkari

“Icelandic culture is infused with stories of travel. When names were needed for modern machines, the technology that enables our imaginations to travel, words were chosen that centred on the quality of roaming. Thus the neologism for laptop is fartölva, formed from the verb far, meaning to migrate, and tölva – migrating computer’; its companion, the external hard drive, is a flakkari. The latter word can also mean ‘wanderer’ or ‘vagrant’. In the end it’s the wanderers we rely on.” From Nancy Campbell’s “The Library of Ice”.

Added by Ruth Broadbent

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