A Walk Through the Gaelic Alphabet
Walking through the same trees
though in a different language
wading in the long river running
of words
among the hawthorn, birch and alder
the same words
wych elm, bramble, ivy
gorse of the thousand swords
no new words.
On the hill slope
there is oak and ash, there is elder,
willow in the damp places
everywhere
dwarf, goat, crack, white willow
trees that make the same words.
Then there is larch
and pine of the bare hill
ranked now in squares
words in a new order.
Each letter of the Gaelic alphabet is represented by a different species of tree.