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  • from vii. flock master
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from vii. flock master

Jim Carruth

We work in tandem days and nights,
walking a shepherd’s trance,
straining to keep the lambs alive.

Frae their first braith
they ar tryin fir their hinmaist.

He gives me a lamb to save;
advice, bottle, rubber teat.

Drip drip of milk, long hours
into the tiny mouth, motherless,
blanket-wrapped by the stove door.

This bleating life-bundle
has to survive —

for the old man, for itself,
for me.


Jim Carruth

from Killochries (Glasgow: Freight, 2015)

Poem reproduced by kind permission of the author.

Tags:

care and carers farming resilience sheep spring vets
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Jim Carruthb.1963

Jim Carruth is a Renfrewshire-based poet and is involved in the work of two of Scotland's poetry organisations. He is currently Glasgow's Makar.
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