Dissolution Dance

Anna Fleming

Dissolution Dance

Climbing induces a certain
narrowing of focus

zooming in
a line

obsessing
a route
the crux

problem-solving
a pimple of rock:

sharp defined moments and pivotal details
holding utmost significance

in pursuit of summit
taking comfort in the neat narrative
beginning-middle-end
approach-ascent-descent
journeys in metaphor

yet another vision
grasps the details
self rock place weather
and widens out

to see more, feel more, grasp more
assembling the parts
together
both the details and the bigger picture
culture language people place geology
more-than-human

and so the present expands
into pasts presents and futures
gathered up in all-encompassing

now

Mountain dissolves
flesh turns lens
whole human being organ
engaged thinking sensing seeing

skin nerves fingers toes muscles gut hips

in this widening of body-mind
intuition and higher strain
bring knowledge from
beyond

vision crystallizing
in the focussed endeavour to be

released

working with ancient mysteries

Alluring spine of active orogeny
holding place of ice and snow leopard
I dream but have never been
inside the restless earth energy of Himalaya

where each step leads upwards
to the elevated realm
of sky and goddess
and frozen bodies

Himalaya, is it enough to know you exist?
Can idle dreaming from distant lowlands
comprehend your spirit?
Or must the climber travel over land and sea

seeking out that vital movement
losing self discovering mountain
inside
dynamic
dissolution dance?

About the Author

Anna Fleming is an award winning British writer and climber. Her debut book Time on Rock: A Climber’s Route into the Mountains (Canongate, 2022) was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize. She writes for the Guardian and in 2017 completed a PhD with the University of Leeds and the Wordsworth Trust. She lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.

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