Scotland to Queensland, Glasgow to Gold Coast
Friendship is a real boat,
Clydebuilt like the best of them,
pride and strength in every rivet and spot weld.
A vessel to last lifetimes, to carry a bond
not severed ever by distance.
The good ship Friendship sails between Glasgow
And your far, your golden, coast.
May fierce friendship forever flourish
Between each competing nation and its host.
So after passing on the baton
Scotland to Queensland,
Glasgow to Gold Coast,
There remains a passion for far more
than future medals won.
The good ship Friendship sails between Glasgow
And your far, your golden, coast.
May fierce friendship forever flourish
Between each competing nation and its host.
We await your call for we have begun to dream.
In the hold: promises to keep, athletes
primed to compete, impatient for the day we set sail
on an ebb tide of auld lang syne to a
landfall welcome of kaiala.
Liz Lochhead, Scots Makar & Jim Carruth, Poet Laureate of Glasgow
About this poem
Scotland’s Makar Liz Lochhead and Glasgow’s Poet Laureate Jim Carruth provided this response to the Scottish Government’s request for a poem to mark the handover of the Commonwealth Games from Glasgow to Queensland, Australia.
