AXE EDGE

Daniel Nixon

And as we make our way the snow moves in,

sudden cotton shroud draped across the earth. 

I struggle in the low gears, over the rising 

moors. You, beside me, hollow. Weeping.

Ahead, a quiet commotion. Brake lights,

a parked police car, and an officer

signalling us, bringing us to a halt: 

Heavy drifts on Axe Edge. A glance.

You’ll not get through. Not tonight. 

Maybe tomorrow.

        Maybe tomorrow.

Then, in silence, I turn the car around. 

Behind us now the impassable road,

and the hospital, and the paper-thin 

light of yesterday’s stilled heart, still there.

 

Daniel Nixon is a writer, poet and musician who lives on the southern edge of the Peak District. His poems have been appeared in Anthropocene, Spelt and Dust. He is currently studying for a Creative Writing MA at Manchester Metropolitan University.