by Steve Tanham
No thought of dirt as
Young fingers slid round iron
Rifled in straight and bitter verticals
To stop small boys ascending
Ha!
~~~~~~~~
The base to space so broad
We could propel those vital
First two feet, and then
With will, and strengthening fingers
And will, and tearing nails
And will, and iron conquered
Hang in space so far
From that ordinary world
Until, with screaming sinews
The blackened hands would
Reach, exhausted
And curling forearms
And sometimes ruined, red jumpers
Take the strain, as gravity reclaimed
It’s filthy child…
~~~~~~~
Not yet, the iron rang, descending
With secret pride. Not yet, then
Some fell… Some didn’t
Hanging in a line of spine
So straight the passing breeze would tease:
Look children! That joy and will
Have made a loving tangent to
The living Earth…
And then was gone, but watching.
~~~~~~~~
©Stephen Tanham 2020
Stephen Tanham is a Director of the Silent Eye School of Consciousness, a not-for-profit teaching school of modern mysticism that helps people find a personal path to a deeper place within their internal and external lives.
The Silent Eye provides home-based, practical courses which are low-cost and personally supervised. The course materials and corresponding supervision are provided month by month without further commitment.
Steve’s personal blog, Sun in Gemini, is at stevetanham.wordpress.com.
Sun in Gemini 
Hi Steve, I enjoyed this post. This is unrelated, but it occurred to me you might enjoy this post by a blogger I follow, and in fact you may enjoy many of her posts from Scotland – if you haven’t discovered her already. This one’s about the changes at a stone circle near her in Aberdeenshire. https://ailishsinclair.com/2020/02/aikey-brae-the-north-wind-doth-blow/
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Thank you, Sheri – for both of those 😎
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Oh my goodness. I love this. So reminds me of the youth I have worked with and my own younger brother, and their love of life and the miracle of being a part of this great universe. Every minute was a true joy to watch.
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Thank you, Anne. They are such vivid memories… especially the filthy hands!
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Pingback: A Tangent to the Earth ~ Steve Tanham | Sue Vincent's Daily Echo
Thank you, Sue x
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This reminds me of my brothers.💜
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I bet I was the same, Willow! X
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It was such a different time, what happened 💜
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And I managed not to fall! x
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Even better 😁
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