LIFE IN THE UK TEST: WINTER SPORTS

When I moved here, it took me two years to realise

that when I told people I’d started skiing when I was four

their smiles meant “and you probably had a pony, too”.

In Zakopane, by grandma’s house, I would point my orange

skis downhill, sit on my heels, lie back and watch

the sky and clouds scroll in parallax

as I waited for the moguls to knock me over.