dàn
sgrìobh thu air m’ anam
do nàdur, a bhidse gun chridhe, is dhùin
thu an leabhar gu grad mus d’ ràinig
sinn deireadh ar sgeulachd
dh’fhuasgail is leig thu air falbh mi mar dhuilleag
bha seargte, a’ tionndadh a-null gu craobh ùr
gheibh esan an ceudna a spìonadh
mus seac thu às m’ inntinn-s’
mar ghalla fo choin rinn thu leum
bho aon chlais gu clais eile:
toirt dhomh adhbhair cho ciallach ri comhart
rinn thu m’ fhàgail
ach, a ghaoil, ged a shracainn mo chridhe
cha sgrìob mi às d’ àilleachd, fras earraich
do ghàire, drùdhadh do chniadaich, nas mìlse
na mil, do phuinnsean, gam thachdadh
Translations of this Poem
poem/song/destiny
Translator: David Kinloch
you spraycanned my soul
with your heartcore bitch
graffiti when the wall ran out
crumbled into wee fritters
of cement and blue and red paint;
so you picked a brand new
john’s syntaxoscopic interface;
he’s already bulldozed
and your guff clings on eternally;
heat dogg, heartmonger, boy
bitch, you scuffed back earth
from ditch to ditch;
left me barking
as bad as your bite
and limp
but even if I harpooned my dick
I won’t howk out your beauty
the spring spatter of your laughter
the palimpsest tattoo
left by your fingers
grindcore at my throat
your puckered evil
little flower
sucking up my face
About this poem
This poem and the translation or ‘response’ were published in Dreuchd An Fhigheadair / The Weaver’s Task: a Gaelic Sampler, edited by Christopher Whyte, and published by the Scottish Poetry Library in 2007. Seven Scottish poets with no knowledge of Gaelic were offered literal versions of contemporary Gaelic poems. Their responses were published alongside the Gaelic originals in the book, and can also be read on the website collected under the tag: The Weaver’s Task.
