Skip to content

Scottish Poetry Library

Register/Sign in
Shopping Bag Shopping Bag
Bringing people and poems together
  • Home
  • Poetry
    • Poets
    • Poems
    • Film
    • Podcasts
    • Makar – National Poet
    • Best Scottish Poems
    • Poetry Ambassadors
      Tosgairean na Bàrdachd
  • Library
    • Become a borrower
    • Catalogue
    • Collections
    • Ask a librarian
    • Copyright enquiries
  • Learning
    • SQA set texts
    • Learning resources
    • Children’s poems in Scots
    • National Poetry Day archive
    • New to poetry?
    • Advice for poets
  • Events
    • What’s On
    • Meeting rooms and venue hire
    • Exhibitions
  • Shop
    • Poetry Highlights
    • Stichill Marigold Press
    • Poems for Doctors, Nurses & Teachers
    • Scottish Poetry
    • Poetry Pamphlet Cards
    • Help
  • About us
    • Our story
    • Our people
    • Company Papers & Policies
    • FAQs
    • Find us
    • Contact us
  • Support us
    • Become a Friend
    • Donate
  • Blog
Shopping BagShopping Bag
Ask a librarian
  • Home
  • >
  • Poetry
  • >
  • short poems
Donate Donate icon Ask a Librarian Ask a Librarian icon

short poems

Just ahead - by Alan Jackson

{ Poem }

Just ahead of hunger’s where I ride,
/ Below the rocks, above the tide.
/ Wind in my cape, star above,
/ We…

Da Corbie - by John Peterson

{ Poem }

Supraeme sits he,
/ His fedders prinkin,
/ Sun-bricht,
/ Ita da grit sun’s glinkin,
/
/ A lowin flame,
/ Wi black een blinkin –
/ Nor deevil ane
/ Keens what he’s…

GP Talk - by Ruth Arnison

{ Poem }

Her GP told her, it’s important
/ to start looking for special accommodation
/ for when the time comes.
/
/ Parkinsons makes her slow…

Cracking the Code - by Ciara MacLaverty

{ Poem }

When we feed nuts
/ to the squirrel
/ at our back door
/ he seems remarkably clever
/ to come back for more.
/ Yet if, after day one,
/ he…

Invitation - by Louise Greig

{ Poem }

Open house for crocodiles
/ Dress Code : Wear smiles
/ Juicy children for tea!
/ R.S.V.P.
/ …

Mistaking the season - by Yosa Buson

{ Poem }

Mistaking the season
the dandelion is blooming
in the frost on the road

The Scottish Poetry Library - by Aonghas MacNeacail

{ Poem }

so much light here –
sun’s rhythm in each wall…
flow of thoughts on the shelves,
radiant lamp of the books

The Mower - by Vicki Feaver

{ Poem }

When I was young and miserable,
/ a misfit and a rebel,
/ almost never out of trouble,
/ desperate to escape school,
/ time dawdled.
/ …

The Digger - by Hamish Mann

{ Poem }

He was digging, digging, digging with his little pick and spade,
/ And when the Dawn was rising it was trenches that…

Two Horses Against A Hill (for Aonghas) - by Gerda Stevenson

{ Poem }

Two horses against a hill, / shoulder to shoulder, / one faces East, the other West, / and I think…

Starry Nicht - by William Hershaw

{ Poem }

Stars sae heich / abuin the muin / cauld and changeless / sklentan doun.

The Blue Boat - by Kathleen Jamie

{ Poem }

How late the daylight edges
/ toward the northern night
/ as though journeying
/ in a blue boat, gilded in mussel shell
/
/ with, slung from its…

Previous 1 2 3 4 … 7 Next
  • Newsletter signup
  • Accessibility
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
Scottish Poetry Library
5 Crichton's Close, Canongate
Edinburgh EH8 8DT
Tel: +44 (0)131 557 2876
© Scottish Poetry Library 2022.
The Scottish Poetry Library is a registered charity (No. SCO23311).
City of Edinburgh logo Green Arts Initiative logo Creative Scotland logo
Scottish Poetry Library