A Poem for a Thursday #260
I haven’t posted on here in a few weeks. Hopefully, my absence was noted! My daughter and I were in Scotland and London for vacation. We had an absolutely wonderful time and I am sure I will write a post all about our adventures. It is a good way to force people to look at my photos. In the meantime, here is one photo and a poem about Scotland.
It was a day peculiar to this piece of the planet,
when larks rose on long thin strings of singing
and the air shifted with the shimmer of actual angels.
Greenness entered the body. The grasses
shivered with presences, and sunlight
stayed like a halo on hair and heather and hills.
Walking into town, I saw, in a radiant raincoat,
the woman from the fish-shop. 'What a day it is!'
cried I, like a sunstruck madman.
And what did she have to say for it?
Her brow grew bleak, her ancestors raged in their graves
as she spoke with their ancient misery:
'We'll pay for it, we'll pay for it, we'll pay for it!'
Scotland
Alistair Reid
7 Comments
Peggy
What a combination! The photo and poem–thanks for them. Looking forward to hearing about your trip.
jllee656
I’ll write a post about the trip soon. All the people in my personal life are probably getting tired of hearing about it!
Jack Deighton
That poem’s last line is the encapsulation of the impact of Calvinism on the Scottish psyche.
On a similar note, the highest praise a Scot gives to anything is to say, “it’s not bad.”
jllee656
I’ll remember that “it’s not bad” is a ringing endorsement.
Katrina
I’m so happy that you had a good trip. That poem made me laugh, the last line is just so Scottish!
jllee656
We had such a good time! Every bit of it was absolutely lovely. That last line made me laugh too.
Lyn
Lovely picture, charming poem. I love the larks rising on long thin strings of singing. And the punchline.