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  • identity
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identity

The Years - by Nadine Aisha Jassat

{ Poem }

It was six years after the fact
that I became I
perhaps again, perhaps for the first time.

Wild Rover Lads - by Neil Munro

{ Poem }

Mickle we missed, be it confessed,
That brings auld age content;
Blaw the wind East, or blaw it West,
‘Twas there wi’ a sang we went.

Malcolm MacKerral - by Angus Martin

{ Poem }

MacKerral, that was one hard winter.
Your father died on the moor road,
his bag of meal buried under snows.
Death relieved him of his load.

Wound - by George Gunn

{ Poem }

Take this wound that I offer youkeep it close & love it wellfor the storm may run at Faraidthe surf turn white Loch Eribollbut no wind can blow an organised peopleacross the unknowable oceanor drown their history in the swell we are cut & yes we bleedbut we are time & headland & will healforging […]

Old Tongue - by Jackie Kay

{ Poem }

When I was eight, I was forced south. Not long after, when I opened my mouth, a strange thing happened. I lost my Scottish accent. Words fell off my tongue: eedyit, dreich, wabbit, crabbit stummer, teuchter, heidbanger, so you are, so am ur, see you, see ma ma, shut yer geggie or I’ll gie you […]

Long Lost Lover - by Bea Webster

{ Poem }

A yellow dawn breaks on the airport of my childhood 
Thick air of spices and warmth and tenderness 
Enters my nose and brings out a wave of nostalgia 
And here I am, the home of my soul 
Don Meuang embraced me like a long lost lover

Hello, I am Scotland - by Michael Pedersen

{ Poem }

Who wakes every morning
/ in a brilliant mood as auburn bursts
/ cast filigree nets over foreheads
/ and swingparks and paint themselves
/ on pavements.

Stevenson’s Edinburgh - by Andrew Neilson

{ Poem }

Robert Louis Stevenson,
/ the author in his jimjams,
/ wrote about the New Town,
/ its draughty parallelograms…

Sanctified - by Stuart A. Paterson

{ Poem }

Scotland where can we find you, / where are you hiding your gallus self?…

Heart - by Stuart A. Paterson

{ Poem }

Home is where the heart is / or home is where the art is…

Here’s the Weather - by Stuart A. Paterson

{ Poem }

Fae stooshie tae fankle tae bouroch tae dreck / we’re steeped in the downpour of dialect.
/ …

Gift - by Ian A. Olson

{ Poem }

The greatest gift
/
/ That Scotland – and Ireland
/ Could receive
/
/ Would be a Voice
/ Proclaiming:
/
/ “As from this day
/ You…

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Scottish Poetry Library
5 Crichton's Close, Canongate
Edinburgh EH8 8DT
Tel: +44 (0)131 557 2876
© Scottish Poetry Library 2021.
The Scottish Poetry Library is a registered charity (No. SCO23311).
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