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Assoc for Scottish Literature

We are come in a stone boat,
a miracle ship that steers itself
round skerries where guillemots
and shags stand still as graves…

—Kathleen Jamie, “One of Us”
Selected Poems, Picador Books 2018

One of Us by Kathleen Jamie We are come in a stone boat, a miracle ship that steers itself round skerries where guillemots and shags stand still as graves. Our sealskin cloaks are clasped by a fist-sized penannular brooch, our slippers are feathery gugas’ necks: so delicate we carried them over the wracky shore, past several rusted tractors. Truth: this was a poor place, a ragged land all worn to holes. No one, nothing, but a distant Telecom van, a bungalow tied with fishing floats for want of flowers. That August night the Perseid shower rained on moor and lily-loch, on a frightened world – on us, in a roofless shieling
with all our tat: the golden horn of righteousness, the justice harp; what folks expect. We took swans’ shape to cross the Minch, one last fling with silly magic – at our first mainland steps a dormobile slewed into a passing place; cameras flashed. So we stayed high, surprised a forester making aeolian flutes from plastic tubes, he shared his pay. ‘Avoid the A9. For God’s sake, get some proper clothes.” We ditched the cloaks, bought yellow Pringle sweaters in Spean Bridge, and house by safe house arrived in Edinburgh. So far so tedious: we all hold minor government jobs, lay plans, and bide our time.
#Scottish#literature#poetry
Aug 02, 2023, 11:12 AM·Public·Web
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