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  • superstition
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superstition

The Aunties - by Lynn Valentine

{ Poem }

They had the gift. Hidden about them

like a penny at the bottom of a pocket.

Scotland - by Alastair Reid

{ Poem }

‘We’ll pay for it, we’ll pay for it, we’ll pay for it!’…

Or L’infante De Salamanque… - by Nimrod

{ Poem }

I
/
/ Noli me tangere, telle est sa devise,
/ Et j’ai gardé la haute main sur la douceur.
/ Elle anime ses flancs. Cet œil…

A Lesson in Light - by Sonam Chhoki

{ Poem }

It is my two-year-old daughter’s first total lunar eclipse. We light butter
/ lamps and offer special prayers. My father thumbs…

Tuna - by Kumalau Tawali

{ Poem }

Tuna you are the mirror of the blue
/ Tuna you are the pain in my veins
/ Tuna you are lord.
/
/ When I set…

The First Rule of Sinhalese Architecture - by Michael Ondaatje

{ Poem }

Never build three doors
/ in a straight line
/
/ A devil might rush
/ through them
/ deep into your house,
/ into your life
/ …

Wolf Shadow - by Vasko Popa

{ Poem }

They say my great-grandmother
/ The witch Sultana Urošević
/ Had a she-wolf’s shadow
/
/ By moonlight she never
/ Went out of doors
/
/ So no one should tread…

Observances - by James Pittendrigh Macgillivray

{ Poem }

A boy row in a umman’s coatie –
/ In a man’s sark row a lassie:
/ Nor wash…

Spell of the bridge - by Helen Lamb

{ Poem }

Hold the wish on your tongue
/ As you cross
/ What the bridge cannot hear
/ Cannot fall
/
/ For the river would carry…

The Man With Three Legs - by Diana Hendry

{ Poem }

From the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery,
/ University of St Andrews
/ In the autumn of 1948 a message was received from a…

The Fairies - by William Allingham

{ Poem }

Up the airy mountain,
/ Down the rushy glen,
/ We daren’t go a-hunting
/ For fear of little men;
/ Wee…

The Finished House - by George Mackay Brown

{ Poem }

In the finished house a flame is brought to the hearth.
/ Then a table, between door and window
/ Where a…

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Scottish Poetry Library
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Tel: +44 (0)131 557 2876
© Scottish Poetry Library 2021.
The Scottish Poetry Library is a registered charity (No. SCO23311).
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