Who is Elsie – dead or alive? I know she loved this beach and swam here, rain or shine, And I see her now white plaits tangled with the wind bouncing down the machair, white clover and daisies leaping up in her wake to stare as she leaves a hand-knitted Norwegian jumper and faded denim […]
Elsie’s Beach 2
At Elsie’s beach out of reach of email, text and web we are unwound, earth-bound by bracken, clover and daisy, sea-found, salted, rippled and rocked round and round, beside barnacle-browned stone, sun crowned, bedded down on the sweet machair ground of our being
Contarinia Pirivora
The pear midge overwinters in a silk cocoon in the soil, Lays eggs in the blossom before it opens, And the larvae feast on pear fruitlets, Which turn black and rot and fall to the soil, Where the pear midge overwinters In a silk cocoon. And so on we race, the midge and me, Before […]
1,2,3 What Do You See?
Sing 1,2,3, what do you see? I see a wood without a tree, I see plastic filling up the deep blue sea I see a screaming catastrophe Sing 1,2,3, what do you see? I see some apple blossom needing a bee, I see some kids with a hand drawn plea, I see a blood-soaked tragedy […]
Roar, Jarl, Roar
From a photo as part of the Edinburgh Science Festival on Portobello Prom 25/03/20 Open your mouth and roar, Jarl, roar! With flame and splintering Nordic wave, Creak of oar and salt-cracked skin Open your mouth and roar, Jarl, roar! Open your mouth and roar, Jarl, roar! To the grey clouds scudding the sky, To […]
Sunrise Swim
27/05/20 Sea, sand and sky are bled through with dawn inking night into day as we bathe washing pink water over necks and thighs toes burning with the cold of the new morning striding into the water into the day into the moment to swim out once more into the pink of ourselves
Where Did The Hope Go?
8/04/20 Where did the hope go? It went to the kale and carrot and courgette, lifting hands from the dark earth in silent prayer Where did the hope go? It went to the wren and redstart and robin, weaving songs round the budding willow Where did the hope go? It went to the birch and […]
What Did You Do?
13/04/20 Where were you in the lockdown? Town or country, river or sea? How many miles sailed by as you pushed the pedals, growling at cyclists who didn’t know 2 metres? How many birds sang into your lunch in the home-office garden? Did you know your blackbird from your Wren? Did the kids make a […]
Wash Your Hands
Pandemic truths 6/04/20 Yesterday I washed my hands 22 times Soapy bubbles and hot, hot water, rubbing every cell, scrubbing under every nail But old grandfather death will not dissolve in the lather, or flow in a gentle swirl; down the plug-hole And we cannot wash away the scars of forests felled or wash the […]
Walking Up Arthur’s seat
19/04/20 A surprised train rumbles past, with four carriages of fuel, and earlier the number 26 bus, bubbled along, not very fast, two passengers huddled in their own socially distanced space, stared through murky glass at the emptied street, both bleak and lovely. The air seems clean and bright and fresh, and the sun makes […]