On a Mountain

you cannot hide
any part of yourself
on a mountain

you cannot escape
who you are
on a mountain

you learn to climb
one step at a time
on a mountain

you go in search
of knowledge
on a mountain

you take the soul
to school
on a mountain

you cannot pretend
things are easy
when you are struggling
on a mountain

you feel the landscape
has turned its back
when you become lost
on a mountain

you are no longer “you”
roped to a team
on a mountain

you should never allow
yourself to be hustled
on a mountain

you need co-operation
not confrontation
on a mountain

you must follow
your leader with your eyes
and your sympathies
on a mountain

you must accept
the promise of danger
on a mountain

you climb in search
of difficulties
and to avoid disasters
on a mountain

you must have the strength
of mind to retreat
if you meet the impossible
on a mountain

you must save energy
for that final pitch
on a mountain

you reach the summit
when you stop climbing
on a mountain

you encounter the govern-
ment of the swelling sky
on a mountain

you will find
there is no middle way
on a mountain

to become one
with a mountain
you must die
on a mountain

each of our lives
one pebble
on the mountain


after Sue Harper, WH Murray, J.E.B. Wright, Jim Crumley, & J. H. B. Bell
 

bibliography

J. H. B. Bell: A Progress in Mountaineering
W.H. Murray & J.E.B. Wright: The Craft of Climbing

photography

Càrn Aosda, Glenshee: Hannah Devereux, 2016

Gathering was commissioned by Hauser & Wirth, for the Fife Arms Hotel, Braemar; the project was launched in 2015 and will conclude in 2018.

The artist residency at University of Aberdeen is funded by The Leverhulme Trust; the project was launched in July 2016 and will conclude May 2017.