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Kirkforthar

Ian Nimmo White

The sun trickles though calligraphy
on the pine-tops and the path
becomes a chess board of dark and light,
a swithering of midges
one moment there, the next,
no more, illusion performed.

A train shaves the edge of the tree-line,
shooting towards Dundee, its long
drawn out ebb more of a wind
than a wind that kneels in prayer
in a green and grand cathedral;
only a startled roe deer

breaks the quiet, beating retreat
on dead wood, tree-root and tussock;
or a woodpecker with his rapid tattoo
at the start of work. It finishes
in a portico of light, which bottles
all of the business of beyond.


Ian Nimmo White

from Standing Back (Petrel, 2000)

Reproduced by permission of the author.

Tags:

Fife & Angus
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Ian Nimmo Whiteb.1948

Born in Paisley in 1948, Ian Nimmo White is a poet and editor who played an active part in Fife's literary life before retiring to Angus.
More about Ian Nimmo White

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