As part of my residency at The Reach, I have asked climbers there to respond to their own experiences on the wall. Some people are established writers trying the sport for the first time; some are seasoned climbers with little or no publishing history.
Over the next months, I hope to elicit more work like this from regular Reach members. Please get in touch if you have a climbing story to tell in verse, or prose.
Here is a poem by member Catherine Riney:
ACROSS THE CEILING
Hanging where the lights reside
Supported by my friends
Another clip, another hold
Gravity complies but, like me, reaches for a grip
Beginning to slow now, any minute I will stop
Just one more clip, hook that leg, pull the rope
Fingers frozen, unable to obey
Nothing left to give
Let go, a gentle swing, lowered to the floor
Down (and up) from the journey across the ceiling
Relishing the burn, pumped arms, slowly thawing fingers
Next time, one–more-clip
Where the lights reside