I carried a book as I walked: Immortal Poems of the English Language, an Anthology, edited by Oscar Williams. My parents had a copy lying around the house when I was a child.
I read every night before bed at home, and expected that I would have time for many books on my walk. But how many books can one man carry? The foods you want to pack on a walk are concentrated, dehydrated, freeze-dried or otherwise high-calorie and low-volume.That was my design for my books–for my single book–too.
In fact I hardly had a moment to spare for poetry, really. My evenings were extremely social, or equally tired. But on the morning of May 15–and a fine clear morning it was, after a tempestuous night of wind and conversation and a boatload of fine port wine–I have a hangover, and the companiponship of Robert Browning.
Round the cape of a sudden came the sea,
And the sun looked over the mountain’s rim:
And straight was the path of gold for him
And the need of a world of men for me.
Walking Back 
On my first overnight walk last year I felt the weight of a book would be too much to carry and didn’t take one; nevertheless I wondered how I would fill the evening hours. But I need not have worried then and since – after eating I snuggle down and I am asleep within seconds. Perhaps I wake briefly during the following hours but I am always asleep again quickly. Then, when I wake around 6 am, I am ready for the new day. Obviously the walking exhausts me so profoundly that I need those extra hours of sleep. So … thinking about your poem and your need for people, it seems to me my only need is sleep. Thanks for sharing.
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