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portraits

Beethoven’s Hat - by David Burnett

{ Poem }

Unseen, yet seen by everyoneAt the levée, one gentlemanAlone kept his hat firmly onThroughout, a boor before the throne. May each majority boast one,Stiff-necked, thrawn, proud, contrarian,Impossible, a fool, alone,With his hat firmly, rightly, on.

Stop - by Graham Fulton

{ Poem }

the bus driver says it’s really nice
to see the children in the park

Fishing With Norman MacCaig - by Norman Kreitman

{ Poem }

Each time I called for him he was perfectly ready,equipment checked and in smooth order,pared to essentials. And I, cluttered with gadgets,would clatter behind as he led the way downstairs. In the boat, as befits a sedulous angler,he was taciturn, though between essential wordshe would give that courteous, gentle smilethat was his signature, before his […]

Brooklyn Cop - by Norman MacCaig

{ Poem }

Built like a gorilla but less timid,
thick-fleshed, steak-coloured, with two
hieroglyphs in his face that mean
trouble,

An Old Woman Cooking Eggs - by Anne Shivas

{ Poem }

That’s me in the painting.
/ My face smooth and brow clear,
/ for I do not worry over
/ what I cannot see.

To Margaret on a Monday - by Joan Ure

{ Poem }

I saw you from my window, Margaret.
/ I was watching the seagulls swooping the sky.
/ The seagulls, I was telling myself, know
/ today…

The Duke - by T. S. Law

{ Poem }

The heid-bummer, prood wi a ryaltie o a shillin a ton
/ lik the hovein o the coals alow the hauch o…

A Memory of Death - by Alan Bold

{ Poem }

Nineteen fifty six was a momentous year,
/ The year of Suez…

Portrait of Ana Dali - by Eddie Gibbons

{ Poem }

Ana Dali, Salvador’s sister,
/ shown here in an ominous frock,
/ eloped with an amorous easel
/ to the melting apartment block.
/ She waves through a…

Curtain - by Gordon Jarvie

{ Poem }

Remembering an Edinburgh neighbour
/
/
/ Descending her garden path
/ she turns, backtracks indoors
/ again, and into the front room
/ to straighten a…

Head of a Young Woman - by Gerda Stevenson

{ Poem }

Five thousand years between us, and yet
not a moment, it seems – recognition
like that spark you’d know how to strike
from stone.

The Old Lady - by Iain Mac a’ Ghobhainn
Iain Crichton Smith

{ Poem }

Autumn, and the nights are darkening.
The old lady tells us of her past once more.

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