Lorca on Morar - by
Lorca:
/
/ ‘Areesaig’, ‘Morrarr…’
/ the beach stands up
/ in little whirlwinds of ash
/ in my Hispanic mouth,
/
/ the dunes become chintz
/ statues of white sand,
/ poodles with griffon…
Place: Highlands & Islands
Srath Nabhair - by
Anns an adhar dhubh-ghorm ud,
/ à irde na sìorraidheachd os ar cionn,
/ bha rionnag a’priobadh ruinn
/ ’ s I freagairt mireadh an teine
/ ann…
Spirit of the Cloutie Tree - by
Mother of all stravaigers, where they pass through
/ she stays, in an oily haze of exhaust
/ from untaxed bangers, leaky caravans –
/ clearing…
Kylesku - by
All afternoon the sun burned your forehead and face,
/ driving for miles through peatscrapes,
/ bare rock ridges rising from moorland, driving through…
A Very Small Miracle - by
A lamb was born near Dunnet Head,
/ tumbling in a yellow broth of legs
/ on the dark earth,
/ finding its feet just before
/ the…
Assent - by
The Whaligoe Steps, Caithness
/
/ Men tied these knots round bundles
/ of themselves, round gear and harvest,
/ bare possession, stuff. Hitched rawness
/ to the skin,…
Ullapool - by
You know you’re in Ullapool
/ when the little town is a sea town,
/ lorries roll from the docks,
/ a gaggle of girls buy…
Canada Geese - by
Out of the haar, in flight,
/ in formation, in position, each eye
/ on the white rump in front, each aware
/ of the white…
Shandwick Stone - by
As jets without the black box of memory
/ Startle sheep in deserted glens
/ the stone hunters stalk their various prey.
/
/ Chaotic and recurrent…
Canoeing on Loch Veyatie, Late Summer - by
Slicing the trout-speckled slipsteam,
/ over the dark silver of Veyatie,
/ today, a restless and turgid loch –
/ fifteen fathoms of darken dream.
/
/ Angry clouds…
The House - by
(at Ach’ an Dreaghainn – The Field of Thorns)
/
/ I found an Oban Times
/ from 1889, stuck behind the timbers.
/ It was placed…
Munlochy - by
The valley shines
/ gold from sea to hill, tree to sky
/ in afternoon sun, good sun, though the evening chill
/ promises frost, morning…