language Archives

I’m no havin children - by Len Pennie

{ Poem }

I’m no havin children, A’m gonnae hae weans; /
an ye’ll can ask whit A cry them, no what are their names; /

Ducks & Rabbits - by Veronica Forrest-Thomson

{ Poem }

in the stream;1look, the duck-rabbits swim between.The Mill Raceat Granta Placetosses them from form to form,dissolving bodies in the spume. Given A and see2find be3(look at you, don’t look at me)4Given B, see A and C.that’s what metaphor5is for. Date and placein the expression of a face6provide the framefor an instinct to rename,7to try to […]

Historic Reoccurence - by Lucille Mona Ling

{ Poem }

mirror images, mirror people how can I escape them,
my own reflection in the water of time?
the cyclops who survives on unspoken thoughts?

All my words - by Regi Claire

{ Poem }

I imitated pitch perfectly, declined with
authority and wondered why people only
stared.

Lifestream - by Maria Sledmere

{ Poem }

At night I am visited by fish, their tiny bodies
pulled from a book.

Sam but different - by Christine De Luca

{ Poem }

Ha’in, fae da start, mair as ee wye o spaekin,o makkin sense o things, we learn ta fit whit we say ta whit’s lippened. Takk pity apö dem at’s born ta wan tongue: dem at nivver preevemaet fae idder tables. Raised wi twa languages is unconscious faestin: twa wyes o tinkin.Een extends da tidder; can […]

Hoy Sound - by Heather H. Yeung

{ Poem }

Artist’s publication

The Way My Mother Speaks - by Carol Ann Duffy

{ Poem }

I say her phrases to myself
in my head
or under the shallows of my breath,
restful shapes moving.
The day and ever. The day and ever.

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 […]