First, not last, long distance hike happened, also poetry.

[Elgenkommer]

Hello Bo from Denmark here.

I walked from St. Jean Pied de Port. I arrived there on May 20th, and I started out on May 21st. On June 22nd I reached Finisterre. After that I went back to Santiago de Compostela, hung out two days, decided I wasn't quite done, took a bus back to Fisterra, and walked one final day up to Muxia.

I got really emotional as I walked into Santiago de Compostela, and poetry happened. This is my attempt at a Camino poem called 'Wonder', and I wonder what fellow pilgrims will think?


Wonder:

I wonder about Ferdi
Where is he now?
How did it go with the Spanish girl?

I wonder about Christina and Bernadette
Where will Bernadette turn 70?
Where are they now?

Will Malin ever drink again?
Can you die of a hangover?
I wonder

I wonder about the state of Daniel's boots
Ok, not about that one so much...

I wonder about the North Carolinians
About their bikes, their festival, their feet
Where are they now?
Will I see them again
I wonder about my own feet

Where are the Koreans?

I wonder about...
...her...

I wonder where that damn yellow arrow is!
Will this stretch of road ever end?
Will this rain?
I wonder

I wonder how old this forest is
It seems older than those we have at home
A forest can be older than a mountain
A mountain doesn't age that way

I cried walking into Santiago
Endings, even small ones
The end of a book or a poem
Makes me blue and yearn for the time before

I wonder what will happen next

I wonder about Marina's rock
while I picture a grieving fifteen year old
Will it
did it
bring her closure?
Will my rock bring me some?

I wonder about death
with the constant reminders
The vultures overhead
The crushed bird in the street
the rabbit
The deer by the side in the ditch
the badger
The memorials all along the way
Grief all over them
Who were you?
What happened?
Who made this?

I wonder about those rocks so carefully piled
What do they mean and to whom?

I wonder
about all those unknown stories

I wonder
I wander

I wonder about love

I wonder
I wander

To the end of earth...
I wonder when I'll first smell the ocean

I wonder
I wander

I wonder
I wander

Put me in the ground when I...



stop

 

[Barry Coltham]

Hi Bo
good poem - thanks for sharing - it certainly captures the experience

Made me think of the David Whyte poem - "Finisterre" - he also wrote "Santiago"

The words of Finisterre are included:

Finisterre
The road in the end taking the path the sun had taken,
into the western sea, and the moon rising behind you
as you stood where ground turned to ocean: no way
to your future now but the way your shadow could take,
walking before you across water, going where shadows go,
no way to make sense of a world that wouldn't let you pass
except to call an end to the way you had come,
to take out each frayed letter you brought
and light their illumined corners, and to read
them as they drifted through the western light;
to empty your bags; to sort this and to leave that;
to promise what you needed to promise all along,
and to abandon the shoes that had brought you here
right at the water's edge, not because you had given up
but because now, you would find a different way to tread,
and because, through it all, part of you could still walk on,
no matter how, over the waves.

by David Whyte
from Pilgrim - Many Rivers Press

 

[Priscilla NC]

Hi Bo, Priscilla here, we shared some times together in April. I never made it to Santiago because I got sciatica, but I remember how helpful you were to me when I needed some help. I'm grateful our paths crossed for a short time.

A wonderful poem. Hope all is well with you as your Camino continues to unfold in your life.

 

[Lisakline]

Hello Bo from Denmark here.

I walked from St. Jean Pied de Port. I arrived there on May 20th, and I started out on May 21st. On June 22nd I reached Finisterre. After that I went back to Santiago de Compostela, hung out two days, decided I wasn't quite done, took a bus back to Fisterra, and walked one final day up to Muxia.

I got really emotional as I walked into Santiago de Compostela, and poetry happened. This is my attempt at a Camino poem called 'Wonder', and I wonder what fellow pilgrims will think?


Wonder:

I wonder about Ferdi
Where is he now?
How did it go with the Spanish girl?

I wonder about Christina and Bernadette
Where will Bernadette turn 70?
Where are they now?

Will Malin ever drink again?
Can you die of a hangover?
I wonder

I wonder about the state of Daniel's boots
Ok, not about that one so much...

I wonder about the North Carolinians
About their bikes, their festival, their feet
Where are they now?
Will I see them again
I wonder about my own feet

Where are the Koreans?

I wonder about...
...her...

I wonder where that damn yellow arrow is!
Will this stretch of road ever end?
Will this rain?
I wonder

I wonder how old this forest is
It seems older than those we have at home
A forest can be older than a mountain
A mountain doesn't age that way

I cried walking into Santiago
Endings, even small ones
The end of a book or a poem
Makes me blue and yearn for the time before

I wonder what will happen next

I wonder about Marina's rock
while I picture a grieving fifteen year old
Will it
did it
bring her closure?
Will my rock bring me some?

I wonder about death
with the constant reminders
The vultures overhead
The crushed bird in the street
the rabbit
The deer by the side in the ditch
the badger
The memorials all along the way
Grief all over them
Who were you?
What happened?
Who made this?

I wonder about those rocks so carefully piled
What do they mean and to whom?

I wonder
about all those unknown stories

I wonder
I wander

I wonder about love

I wonder
I wander

To the end of earth...
I wonder when I'll first smell the ocean

I wonder
I wander

I wonder
I wander

Put me in the ground when I...



stop

Lovely poem!!!!

 

[Elgenkommer]

Hi Bo, Priscilla here, we shared some times together in April. I never made it to Santiago because I got sciatica, but I remember how helpful you were to me when I needed some help. I'm grateful our paths crossed for a short time.

A wonderful poem. Hope all is well with you as your Camino continues to unfold in your life.

I'm afraid it must have been another Bo from Denmark. I was there in May and June.