The View Poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

The View
They were climbing up a mountainside to get
a better view of the sea.
she reached the top before him, and he
breathed hard when he got up.
She laughed pleased she had won he smiled
too but was short on laughter.
He was strong, slim and looked athletic but
a doctor had told him his heart was weak
and not put strain on it, by too much sport.
His friends kidded him for his reluctance to
partake in long treks in the woods and
sleeping under canvas... slowly they drifted away
or rather he made himself absent because
he could not tell his friends about it they found
him cantankerous said he lacked the spirit of youth
and fun. Boring, his girlfriend said before walking
off. He was so big and strong, but didn´t have
the strength- or was it vanity - to be one of them.