Poetry competition 2007 – Breathing the South Downs, by Amanda Geary

First prize (18 years and over category)

The way I like to walk is slowly,
the pace of women bearing
heavy loads of water over
many miles of landscape,
the soft-foot tread of friends
engrossed in conversation,
a swaying gait that rocks my hips,
a sideways swing,
a backwards play in leaning,
rooted to a steady step,
a lazy-being feel
of bones suspended, lifted,
carried by my breathing,
the shape of rolling hills.