The last train from Snowdon’s summit
ran into clear weather
about 50 metres down
The summit is the summit
by whatever means, and we stood naked in the clouds
apart from our clothes
and alone
apart from the others
The view was the same as usual:
ghostly, half-familiar shapes flitting through the mist,
people with elbows and cameras
and an occasional frustrating glimpse
of what we all knew was there:
Crib Goch, the Horseshoe, the Pyg track,
the Miners’ Path, the Isle of Man –
or so they said
This time, though, in clear weather and without even trying,
I noticed the sheep
as unconcerned by their fashionably purple identifying marks
as by their proximity to the rail track
edging into and out of danger
complacent, seen-it-all-before,
high and dry
The café workers took the last train down:
they chatted about religion
and listened to silent music
but the sheep were not interested,
turning each one to its own way
The ginger-haired lad
and the foreign girl
made so little contact that
it could have been deliberate
But the sheep saw it all,
as sheep do; they just pretend
not to be looking