The mother’s toothless stare frozen into her final pillow The panic that pedalled November into winter The bright-eyed sunflowers that wilted into spiralled seed The skittish words that bit my tongue The song that found the strength of rock Each wave washed pieces of old year from my skin The muddles, the messes, the charity […]
Making
Knitting, sticking and generally making interesting stuff
Ice swim
The body drinks the cold like cider on a summer’s day with tingling teenage delight at forbidden late-night antics. Giggling on frosted air we are addicts, high on frozen echoes, legs and arms bare, spinning spells, as we skim slices of ice across the arctic loch over and over and the raw tinkling rings through […]
Veggie Burger and Chips
A chip for the farmer who carried the gear, A chip for the hug that held my fear, A chip for the legs that jogged for help, A chip for Sue’s strident, stoical self, A chip for the Gairloch paramedics who answered my call, A chip for the bag that broke her fall, A chip […]
The Radish Concept
For Callum I chopped icicle radishes fresh from the garden, thick as my thumb And put them in a dish for lunch. “No thanks” you said, “Too hot?” I asked. “No,” you said, “I don’t like the concept -Too crunchy.” And you cracked a carrot between your teeth. “Crunchier than carrots?” I asked. “They are […]
The Green Lochan
Lochan uaine, Rothiemurchus, Cairngorm, Ben Macdui We swam in the green lochan, Flanked with Granny pines and skirted birch, The water a magical milky green Lochan uaine, Rothiemurchus, Cairngorm, Ben Macdui Did you know the water is coloured Because there the fairies wash their clothes? Did you know they all wore green? Lochan uaine, Rothiemurchus, […]
The Appelsystor
For AnneMarte, Rachael, Sheila and Margaret This years apple blossom has not yet fruited, But tonight, indoors, As the rain pours, We sing an apple melody. I fish out my apple dress And we hang knitted apples round our ears And dance with Coxes – right hand, left hand Remembering teeth and tits, The Apple […]
Summer Rain
Raindrops fat as ripened peas Bounce off newly born Oak leaves, The green sheen of May On a rainbow kind of day, Then petrochar! 05/19
Suilven
Suilven, the mountain that all post-menopausal women need to climb before they die, rises a sturdy breast of tough Quarzite to the sky. And down she came, in a yellow buttoned blouse and cream Craghoppers. I’ll call her Edy, because now all women with gritty determination, willing to crawl on hands and knees for the […]
Stakeholder Day
I want to rip up your flipchart, Stick your post-its in the bin, Mess up your straightened hair, Wave my unshaved legs in the air. I’m done with this posh room consultation, This air conditioned lack of imagination. Let’s find a bigger dream than this room can hold, Be bold as the roses climbing the […]
Seven days after the solstice
Seven days after the solstice on these Assynt beaches, beneath the mighty reach of Canisp, Suilven, Cul Beag, Cul Mor and Stac Polaidh, the days have been stretched out like an uncoiled phone cable, and the day-nights are so bright I read at midnight. Light enters from all sides. My swim along Loch Druim Suardalain […]