Weekend away in medieval castle
Traveling to Scotland on overnight train
Read the account of Culloden battle
Highlanders lost cherished domain.
Eyes feeling heavy am swept away
living the moment from long ago
Brave clan tartans fought that day
Historically painful tale of woe.
Gossamer mist invades my dream
Long dead minstrel sings of noble deed
Ghostly features with passion gleam
He's haunted by unspoken need
His presence powerful when I awake
Know exactly what he aspires too
Culloden fields he cannot forsake
To clan markers I go, together we view.
High on the moor, the wind is fierce
His spirit returns to his long lost past
Feel my heart so gently pierced
He's returned to highland roots at last.
She was enrapt by the glow and mesmerized
by what appeared to be some sort of orb,
bright faceted amber that was crystallized.
She struggled to comprehend and to absorb
the meaning of such a gilded gift of gold...
It was a seed of wisdom, sent as foretold.
Her mind was captured by fantasies reaped
and saw the future through prisms of glass.
Her gift of visions was baffling, but steeped
with wonderful events to come; en masse.
The glow encircled her head like a wreath
surrounding her as she stood upon the heath.
Fields of wildflowers then flourished ten fold.
She walked with highlanders for many years,
curing the sick, aiding the poor, young and old,
dispelling myths, defusing people of their fears.
She became a legend; the angel sent from above
blessed with a kind heart, overflowing with love.
Strand's Completely New (15) Contest
Sponsor: Brian Strand 7/21/2020
LOCH NESS
Nestled in rugged lap of Scottish highlands
A sprawling lake, the Loch Ness, swerves
In blue hills of old metamorphic rock bands
Lost glacier melt of the ice age it preserves.
The times of huge dinosaurs have long gone
There’s a rustic belief of mixed pride and awe
Vestige of extinct reptile species survives alone
They fondly call Nessie, its age they don’t know.
In mystique nights when the supermoon glows
Struck by the lightning the silver clouds flicker
The lake weaves a tapestry of light and shadow
That’s when they say Nessie swims in azure water.
If you ever try to explore the mysterious lake floor
You may not discover the secret abode of Nessie
Even if you don’t believe in the highlanders’ lore
Lively play of aquatic shadows on water you’d see.
January 1, 2018.
Clan Stewart of Appin,
Clan MacGillivray too,
Fell at Culloden,
In the blood and dew.
They fell two by two, and then ten by ten,
Until twelve hundred dead, not sixty minutes in.
...At Culloden
The highland charge failed,
No victory as in the past.
The British stood their ground and slaughtered,
To the last.
And when twelve hours had past and a wounded man gasped,
The Butcher slaughtered again, and again,
To the last
And the last.
...At Culloden
At Culloden they fell,
The fathers and the sons,
The brothers and the cousins,
Of Scotland's bravest ones.
Bonnie na'er should ha'e marched,
His highlanders through the night.
They may ha'e had the chance,
To bring on the proper fight.
...At Culloden
But the swords came down, as men crawled through the heather,
Brits cut the Clans deep,
Ruby blood on their feather.
Through their hearts,
Through their souls,
Their lives given for this toll.
A scar to their creed,
And still Scotland weeps.
...At Culloden
Graham Alexander Devenish
The aromas of luxurious greens adorned the ruin
And wandering up the stairs had intense feelings
Chills and goosebumps and Erector Pelli presented
The closer the emerging, the more intuition feelings
Here I’d been, in this place along ~ long time ago
The whispers of distant voices and conversations
Remembered laughter and thought of the dancing
Beer, wine and silver goblets, and sheer elegance
Gentleman in kilts, and fair maids with bosoms
Cajoling till dawn, Oh, the legends ~ long gone
And now Butter Cups adorn the stairs leading up
To a place once reserved for men of Highlanders
And, The charitable Sisters of Dawn, tended by day
Oh, but that was ancient centuries now long forsaken
Here I walk, three hundred years past such history
Visiting ghosts, and wondering could we have passed
Each other again, some later time and place, so aghast
Venturing another lifetime, could they’ve too ~
Will we meet again, at this ruin on a hill?
pessimists say weed, highlanders say emblem,
summit of strength, protected by spikelet's and hardiness,
bewitching and captivating flower, irresistible to man and deity.
armed stem defends and supports, tipped with the pride of Scotland,
coverage of clover hardened by the elements and stone,
the luck of the Irish forged by four petite leaves of green,
beauty of the landscape holds the power of this innate country,
tough together, alone are inspired by the magic of Ireland.
welsh pride holds the immense beauty of this tubular trumped flower,
colour of the sun, kissed by raindrops, blessed by a lush green land,
elegant and graceful, this adept nation holds this flower in their hearts,
the proud stance exclaiming its right to its land of the fathers.
Amidst scented Glens
Afore me in postured pose
Breathtakingly she
Allures this Highlanders eyes
Her beauty personified
http://www.thehighlanderspoems.com/love-16.php
Images now received by satellite
Show spaceships similar to here
In Tunguska, deepest Russia
The largest seems to appear
Near the Kingdom of Scourie, Scotland
From the Minch it slowly arose
The third of them showed so silently
Highlanders agape, froze
Governments now in communication
Media frenzies gather flow
It takes something out of the ordinary
For dialogue to openly show
A hush captures our attention
Channel 5, Australia News
Ayers Rock sees the fourth of these crafts
Indigenous carvings on the screens we now view
More reports are gathering strength
In Guatemala, near Piedras Negras
"Black stones" I believe in Spanish
Is it coincidence that this is the last
The night to the dawn takes ages to pass
Every hour we look to our skies
Have we awoken what we have always dreamt of
Below us, our eyes could never espy
Not from the depths of outer space
But from the deep from the planet we live
Lying dormant, awoken by archaeologists
We await as many nations, misgive
http://www.thehighlanderspoems.com/fantasy-18.php
Welcome to my home for this is where I'll stay
It's where I was born, and where I'll end my days
It rests on the banks, of the Caledonian Canal
Surrounded by it's Highland beauty, in typical enthral
Cedars, Firs and Birch trees, iconic in their settings
Rain clouds often surround us, cascades them in their wetting
Then there's the carpets of heather, that cover clannish grounds
Where you can tip toe over it's surface, and not even leave a sound
To view the blooms of gorse, and marvel at our thistles
Just leaves you so in awe, walking with a whistle
We appreciate what nature gives, these breathing awesome beings
To watch them in her wilds, we rub our eyes at seeing
We are steeped in wondrous history, some good and not so grand
But nowhere on this earth, will you have stepped on welcomed lands
So welcome to my home, of mountains and the glens
Where us Highlanders reside, the ultimate of men
http://www.thehighlanderspoems.com/scotland-4.php
A man of words his mind comes alive on paper
A teacher of mine his lines so fine
Wisdom is defined with his poets desire
I imagine him sitting in a meadow across from the stream
His pen writes a life time of vibrance dreams
Always a buoyant light within his nature
An understanding of others
Empathy with his opened thoughts
An impact he has given through and through
An honesty in his talks
The proudest of fathers he is noble being
A writer of a treasure chest I do call you my friend
With the highlanders dream now penned
The bookshelve is now complete.....
For PRAISE YOUR POETRY SOUP PAL CONTEST
Hope James does not blush !!!
Highlanders last post
For a little while at least
Thank you for sharing
All your writing feasts
Commenting will continue
When time does allow
Oldies and newbies
Will all continue to wow
Bye everybody
My pens laid to rest
Pastures new I now journey
To persue a new zest
Warrior of battle
A leader of men
Triumphant in victory
In his Highland glens
His followers unite
In battle ready clans
Willing to die
As they fight for their lands
Burns run red
As thatched crofts burn
To lead ones clan
Is birthed and earned
Lowlanders, fellow Highlanders
In claymore cull
From John O' Groats
To the Isle of Mull
Many campaigns
In week long march
To leave your enemies
Their communities torched
Warrior of Highlanders
Bloodied hands steeped in
His head bowed
To the fallen and beaten
http://www.thehighlanderspoems.com/scotland-2.php
Golden yellow glow
Against darkest night silhouette
Strong against all storms
(Idea from the highlanders poems "The Lighthouse".)
The dreamy look
From her radiant face
Three roses in her hair
In picture grace
Scarlet red
Pink and blue
Deep dark eyes
Complexion true
Her rosy lips
Invite a kiss
This Highlanders
Longing wish
Dressed in mauve
Her curves of art
I long to be
Inside her heart
Too see her glide
On golden sands
Be proud to walk
Hand in hand
As the sun downs
Revealing starry skies
Alone on the beach
You and i
The three roses
That adorn your hair
Your rosy lips
You kindly share
Curvaceous you
Invite my touch
In tender hold
Our bodies clutch
On the sands we lay
This starry night
American Dove
And her Highland Knight
http://www.thehighlanderspoems.com/love4.php
It is my wish
To kiss the cheek
Of a lovely girl
I hope to meet
This birthday lass
In the month of July
Makes this Highlanders heart
Soar and fly
Her inspiration
Has encouraged in me
Helped me write
In the poems we see
The poem i wrote
My dinner table
A space is there
Available
For on this day
The 14th of July
Across the Atlantic
A kiss will fly
Carried on
The wings of an eagle
To this American Queen
A lady so regal
" Happy Birthday to Carolyn Devonshire "
http://www.thehighlanderspoems.com/carolyn.php
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