Winter Twilight in West Lothian - by
The sun’s going down behind the great shale-heap
/ Over against the village; shadows creep
/ Shifting from door to door, and all the…
20th century poems
A Night’s Rain - by
The thunder clap may clatter –
/ The lichtnin’ flare awa’:
/ I’m listenin’ to the water,
/ …
Street Market - by
Here, under the awning of cotton,
/ Tomatoes are heaped in a flare
/ Of glossy red beauty, and rotten
/ Sick-sweet smells of fruit fill…
‘The Black Belt’ - by
Gruff trams and trains criss-cross and intersect
/ With glittering steel this leprous countryside;
/ Pyramid slagheaps threaten, seamed and specked
/ With smouldering pink: a…
When Will the War Be By? - by
“This year, neist year, sometime, never,”
/ A lanely lass, bringing hame the kye,
/ Pu’s at a…
A Sough o’ War - by
The corn was turnin’, hairst was near,
/ But lang afore the scythes could start
/ A sough o’…
In Memoriam - by
Private D. Sutherland
/ killed in action in the German trench, May 16, 1916,
/ and the others who died
/
/ So you were David’s…
Two Sonnets - by
I
/ Saints have adored the lofty soul of you.
/ Poets have whitened at your high renown.
/ We stand among the many millions who
/ Do…
The Boy in the Train - by
Whit wey does the engine say ‘Toot-toot’?
/ Is it feart to gang in the tunnel?
/ Whit wey is the furnace…
The Dominie’s Happy Lot - by
The Dominie is growing grey,
/ And feth he’s keepit thrang
/ Wi’ counts an’ spellin’ a’ the day,
/ And liffies when…
The Sair Finger - by
You’ve hurt your finger? Puir wee man!
/ Your pinkie? Deary me!
/ Noo, juist you haud it that wey till
/ I…
Highways and Byways - by
Highways for eident feet,
/ That hae their mile to gae;
/ But byways when spring is sweet,
/ …