Baldersdale to Langdon Beck

a new land of reservoirs
all aligned west to east
its sad to think that this is the last time we will stay at Baldersdale
its closing down along with Keld
what will happen to the legs of the trail
when they are gone
and distance between beds grows greater?

what defines a metropolis?
context is all
a pharmacy and a toilet
the sun is shining though broken clouds
sweating in thermal tops
the stale smell of sweat
our uniforms now

middleton in tees
an old town and a new town built next to it
from the hill its hard to tell
where is the trajectory going?
accents have changed
o brother where art thou soundtrack on mind play
RAF tornadoes practicing tricks
must be in a national park again?

advice from a couple with two dogs going the opposite way:
eat, walk, eat some more, enjoy life, enjoy your life

a land of waterfalls
steep water, brown peaty
white foam, pine trees on banks
higher, up stream
against the flow

we want to stay there for a while
to let people and water pass us by
to see movement passing in the opposite direction
for once
from back to front
and into the distance that is in front of me
static

half eaten mountain takes us by surprise
discover a turnip stray in my bag
we forgot to leave for Patrick troll
adopted and named, Kidson
after the hill on which he was found
how far does he want to go?

we stop for sangers on the steps
of the bonsai garden
'this place needs a house'

skipping down across a bridge
we give a hill our attention
it seemed needy
but we need to go that way
and retrace back to the river
deserves our feet walking up and down it
we need another bridge
to know
which way to go

Langdon Beck, eco-warrior building
Hotel with the loneliest view
only us and them,
they sit in the window
watching the scar