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Do You

Gael Turnbull

after Jacques Charpentreau

Do you see who dodges away,
disappearing into the blue?
That is life, on its way,
dancing beyond you.

Do you feel a breath tease
your cheek, stir the grass, lift the dew?
That is time, like the breeze,
having fun with you.

Do you hear singing, a choir
of echoing voices, promising anew?
Relax. That is only desire
playing tricks with you.

Do you sense at your elbow
an old friend but can’t guess who?
That is death, faithful shadow,
laughing with you.


Gael Turnbull

published in The Dark Horse, 15, summer 2003

Reprinted by permission of the Estate of Gael Turnbull.

Tags:

21st century poems Best Scottish Poems 2004 English scottish poems

About this poem

This poem was included in Best Scottish Poems 2004. Best Scottish Poems is an online publication, consisting of 20 poems 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 in 2004 was Hamish Whyte.

Editor’s comment:
Gael Turnbull’s death in July this year has robbed us of a truly individual voice. ‘Do You’ is typically Turnbull: sparked by another work (he was a great homager), full of repetition, a sing-song quality, a wry humour, an enticing simplicity saying profound things.

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Best Scottish Poems 2004

The first issue of Best Scottish Poems, edited by Hamish Whyte.
Find out more

Gael Turnbull1928 - 2004

Gael Turnbull was a poet and medical practitioner whose work ranged from prose poetry and collage poems to inventive ‘poem-objects’, all expressing a ‘delight in language and in the possibilities of utterance’.
More about Gael Turnbull

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