Blind Long Jumping

So this is how a world might
become small, coming down
to a clap, a beat, a voice
calling you on.

She’s heard it growing for years,
exploring where it goes, learning
its lead. Now she knows it well
enough. Who cares what has been
lost or found; there is only the beat
of hands clapping, a private rhythm
everyone understands .

If there was nothing else, it would
still be enough. She has faith.
She has it all. The silence, the breath,
the sound. She steps, she runs,
she leaps into dark, into light.
Into orbit at last.
(London Paralympics 2012 - Rachel Mann)

No doubt you've all seen this already - but having mentioned it at the quiet day, David Runcorn was talking about the trust and intensity of blind long jumping where the jumper uses a helper who stands in the track clapping while the watchers keep very quiet and the helper flings themself out of the way at the last minute! Let me quote it here - that quiet day was a fortnight ago now! - if you enjoy the poem keep a close eye on Rachel Mann's blog from which I've pasted it!

That link to David Runcorn's pages was tricky to find - there's lots of dead links to mac.com... let's hope citing it will improve its chances in google! My photos from the queit day at Cliff college are here.