The Atlantic Way is the network of roads down the west coast of Ireland. Rowena and I were staying in Toberpatrick Cottage near Sligo, which is not far from the Atlantic Way. Each evening I was re-reading Yeats (who was buried in Sligo) and reflecting on his Ireland. This made me think that the tourists’ […]
Category: Poems (Page 2 of 2)
I find that travel sharpens how we see. And what we see may or may not be what is there. But for me, this really happened. On 5th Avenue, at the end of a New York week without much joy,I walked behind a couple in their eighties.He walked with difficulty, she rode her mobility scooter.He, […]
A group of artists were creating sketches of an ancient elm in the corner of Washington Square, New York, and asked me to join them. I explained I was better with words than images, but suggested I could write the tree a poem. Here it is – more or less as performed in Washington Square […]
This poem is about the funeral of the mother of one of my very best friends. The funeral was not far from Kyle of Lochalsh on a sun-filled spring day. Everything was as described – even the two sea eagles. Indeed two sea otters playing in the sea the next day didn’t get into the […]
I was brought up in Largo in Fife. Largo Bay sweeps from Leven to Shell Bay. Largo Bay was the play-place of my youth and I return when I can. On new year’s eve 2023 I woke from a strange dream that was clearly the result of listening to Michael Marra’s ‘Heaven’s Hound’ the night […]
One of the most noteworthy Native American crow myths is that of the Rainbow Crow. According to this Lenape story, the crow did not always have black feathers or a hoarse cawing voice. Once, the crow was a vibrant bird with feathers in all of the colors of the rainbow. The crow was a beautiful […]