portaging sophie zarb

portaging

there’s a sense of calm that comes when you push off from shore of the campsite where you weathered a storm, before dawn the clouds giving away a hint of light a flicker of hope that the new day will bring

the paddle blade taps lightly, piercing the smooth, glass-like surface holding the weight of the canoe of the lake your canoe rests on dragging the water with each stroke powering yourself against nature’s inertia can really empower yourself

gravel crunches below your feet the mid-day rays burn your tanned skin the pack straps dig into your shoulders but on this road you embark on a journey travelling from nowhere to somewhere you’ve done this before all the lakes you’ve traversed all the rocky terrain you’ve trodden and you beam back at the nine o’clock sunshine it’s just you simple, city you voyaging down rapid rivers and sparkling streams across lagging lakes and against weary winds you did this

the world outside feels non-existent far away here, it seems the air is fresh here, you can breathe and be free from turmoil here, life simply stops

but, see, life doesn’t stop life thrives and flourishes in the moss beneath your feet life grows and matures in the old pines you brush past life flows and ebbs in the fish below your canoe you lived before but here it’s different here you can be still

on this road again tracing footsteps past you’re here you completed your journey travelling from nowhere to somewhere x

WORDS by SOPHIE ZARB ART by JULIA LINDSAY