Migrant Warker
on reading Arundhati Roy’s essay, ‘The Pandemic is a Portal’
It cam sae suddent, the lockdoon -
guns jabbin oor backs, aawhaur baured,
naewhaur tae bide.
We were in the swatshoap,
ma bairns an me, at the machines,
stitchin zips, three hunner atween us an oor,
pirn-threid castin stour
throu a gash o licht blearin ma veesion;
sae blin I wis, an distractit bi the gairds' clatter
at the stairheid, I near tint ma fingers
in the needle's dreel.
'Hame wi yez!' they skraikit, 'Hame!'
But whaur's thon? We cam here
years syne, scrappin fur wark,
an hae grindit oor darg sae lang,
it's aa we ken - there's nae gangin back.
I climp a swatch o claith
tae mak a bield for us come nicht,
cramasie gaberdine, gear fur a queen,
bag it unner ma sark, an we're oot -
shoothers, hurdies, breists
dunchin intae fowk like hirdit coos
in muckle swaws as faur's oor een can see;
ma bairns grup at me an greet,
but nae comfort can I gie;
yon claith I reived wull mairlike be
oor windin sheet nor bield,
for we hae been forsaken shairly:
a braithin chain, ilk link growthie grun
fur the sleekit canker tae spreid its hornit croon.
Glossary:
| cam – came sae – so aawhaur – everywhere baured – barred naewhaur – nowhere tae – to bide – stay/live swatshoap – sweatshop hunner – hundred atween – between pirn-threid – cotton thread stour – dust licht – light veesion – vision blin – blind distracit bi the gairds’ – guards’ stairhead – stairhead tint – lost dreel – a line/furrow hame – home they skraikit – screeched whaur’s thon – where’s that syne – ago | hae – have darg – a day’s work gangin – going climp – grab, take hold of bield – shelter cramasie – crimson sark – shirt shoothers – shoulders hurdies – hips/buttocks breists – breasts dunchin – bumping swaws – waves grup – grip greet – cry gie – give yon claith – that cloth reived – stole braithin – breathing ilk – every growthie – fertile grun – ground sleekit – sly spreid – spread hornit croon – horned crow |
About this poem
This poem was included in Best Scottish Poems 2023. Best Scottish Poems is an online publication, which includes 5 poems written in Scots, chosen by a different editor each year with comments by the editor and poets. It provides a personal overview of a year of Scottish poetry. The editor for poetry in Scots in 2023 was Liz Niven.
Editor’s comments:
The poet paints a sterk image o a mither, awreadie a migrant fae an unkent place, hivin tae flee her workplace wi nae warnin. Hame hid awreadie been left, thir wis nae hame tae retun tae in this ootlin lan. It’s an unexpectit take oan the pandemic an its effects on fowk. As Arundhati Roy suggests in her essay, the Pandemic micht be a portal intae a new wey o life. Tak aw the troubles o the present if ye want tae, or gan throu tae a fresh stert, a new normality, a better society. Well, we aw ken whit’s happent wirsels an speir wis the Pandemic a portal or no. Which ivver wey it went fir ye, here the poet conveys the panic and hopelessness throu strang descriptive Scots. A ‘cramasie gaberdine’ is jist gorgeous, the internal rhymes and syllables pleasing the lugs an een.
Author’s comments:
During the Covid pandemic, I read a remarkable essay ‘The pandemic is a portal’ by Arundhati Roy, on how the corona virus was threatening India, and what that nation, and the world, should do next: https://www.ft.com/content/10d8f5e8-74eb-11ea-95fe-fcd274e920ca
At the same time, Carol Ann Duffy was curating an online poetry anthology, Write Where We Are Now, for Manchester Metropolitan University. She emailed me, asking me to contribute. I set to, and wrote a whole clutch of poems, which she accepted, including one in Scots, Migrant Warker, which was inspired by Roy’s essay. The poem was later published in my third collection, Tomorrow’s Feast, published by Luath Press in 2023.
