After ‘Free Solo:’ A Whoku Sequence

After ‘Free Solo’

A Whoku Sequence

written by: Mark Gilbert

Alex Honnold
boiling granite
for breakfast

Alex Honnold
a broom
made of straw

Alex Honnold
the rolling wagon
of death

Alex Honnold
“I bailed,” he grinned,
hands in pockets

Alex Honnold
in the silence
before morning

Alex Honnold
miked up
with dew

Alex Honnold
conifer spikes
anticipating

Alex Honnold
hollow
flake

Alex Honnold
fondling
the handhold

Alex Honnold
hanging a Z
on the rockface

Alex Honnold
the drone struggles
to keep up

Alex Honnold
boulder
problem

Alex Honnold
it is our duty
to stop this

Alex Honnold
the space
between

Alex Honnold
clinging
to a cleft

Alex Honnold
a smile emerges
from the shadow

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:

‘Free Solo’ (2018) won Best Documentary at the 91st Academy Awards. It is about Alex Honnold’s first ever free solo climb of El Capitan, in California. ’Hollow flake’ and ‘boulder problem’ are features on El Capitan named by climbers.

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• About
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Mark Gilbert

Mark Gilbert enjoys writing prose and poetry. He is a member of the British Haiku Society and has recently been published in Heterodox Haiku Journal, Five Fleas, Under the Basho and Horror Senryu Journal. His mini-chapbook of migraine-inspired haiku, ‘Ribbons and Rainbows,’ was published by Yavanika Press.

Latest posts by Mark Gilbert (see all)

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