Poetry Wheel Challenge:
Theme: Destiny
Emotion: Joy
Color: Sapphire
Season: Midwinter
Form: Free Verse
Object: Crown
Verb: Carry
Created using the PoetrySoup Poetry Wheel
Its my time to Soar
On eagles wings and fly
Above the sapphire sky
This Midwinter time of year
My crown is full of coloured dazzling~ sparkles
Glowing for all to see
Such joy I feel inside of me
I carry the love for my soup friends
Deep in this Scottish heart of mine
Not just at Midwinters time
Every day of every month ,year
I just love being here to share
My time for destiny is now
For such a time as this
I write from depth of heart ~ soul
Showing love, joy, kindness to all
A ship off the old dock
1869 launched on the Leven
named for an archaic Scottish short shirt
worn by a witch in a Robbie Burns poem
damaged by fire in 2007
a composite construction clipper
with George Moodie as 1st skipper
sailing 8 seasons in the China trade
on the whirling wind across the swirling sea
no they're not made
like that any more
she danced as a dervish carrying tea
then wool for ten years again and again
driving on in record time from Australia to Great Britain
and after all those ocean voyages
from her Dumbarton launch to end her days
a museum on the Thames in Greenwich
only 425 miles away
Scots golfers do not 'golf'
as they say in the U.S.A.
invented in Scotland
it's as they ought
a sport the Scottish play
the first tennis player
known by name
(Louis X)
did not 'tennis'
when he played the game
even so I may one day
bend my elbow
consider the racket
and give it a go
looks like the language
is slowly downward drifting
and come this Christmas
you won't see me 'gifting'
when did a noun become a verb
misconjugated by ignorant clowns
as English is oft Yanked and twisted
by illiterate dimwits verbing nouns
His work is known around the Earth
This ploughman lad of lowly birth
He wooed and won the lassies braw
His Jean the fairest of them aw
He honoured such as mice and men
And friendship flowed beneath his pen
Of parity and justice wrote
A line that I take leave to quote
“That man to man the world o’er
shall brothers be...” can’t ask for more.
Diverse his works, out of his time
The man who gave us “Auld Lang Syne"
Scottish dog sits on his Celtic mama’s lap
Barking, growling, and lunging at every sap
Who dares to try to court his mama, Miss LaBlap.
You’ll never get married, says her Grandpa Rap.
That may be says his granddaughter, who likes to clap.
But I need my doggie, he keeps suiters from annoying me during my nap.
You are the only woman I know who likes being single said Grandma Rap.
Scottish dog began growling at her too, and lunged at her lap.
There was an instant silence
A blanket of shush floated over the court
Scottish cats are here!
This whisper surrounded us
I looked toward the door
A jaunty cat with attitude sauntered through it
Before he was announced
As if he owned Spain, England and Scottland
He gave me a nod as he approached the king
The king looked displeased
I wondered what it was about
But we were rushed out
None of us were royal enough to be privy to it
When we returned the Scottish cats were gone
How they left, no one knows
Except the King
Near to a castle
in the Scottish countryside,
next to a deep lake
looking at the blue waters
~the nature plays the bagpipes
When I return to this earth to graze
After this latest life, in a new phase
Please let me be a Scottish Highland Bull
Grazing all over the greenery, getting full.
People will pet me and say I am cute.
I can eat my fill and walk around and toot.
I will not have to pay taxes, insurance or a bill.
I can just walk around farting and eating my fill.
A bonnie wee place, Drummore.
Just aff the Galloway Shore.
A stoat and a fish.
Their signature dish.
A bonnie wee place Drummore.
The Watergaw
by Hugh MacDiarmid
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
One wet forenight in the sheep-shearing season
I saw the uncanniest thing—
a watergaw with its wavering light
shining beyond the wild downpour of rain ...
and I thought of the last wild look that you gave
when you knew you were destined for the grave.
There was no light in the skylark's nest
that night—no—nor any in mine;
but now often I've thought of that foolish light
and of these irrational hearts of men ...
and I think that, perhaps, at last I ken
what your look meant then.
Hugh MacDiarmid wrote "The Watergaw" in a Scots dialect. I have translated or "modernized" the poem into modern English to make it easier to read and understand.
Keywords/Tags: Scotland, Scot, Scottish, Scots dialect, night, nightfall, rain, grave, death, death of a friend, light, lights, watergaw, heart, heartache, heartbroken, broken heart, heart song
Ballad
by William Soutar
translation/modernization by Michael R. Burch
O, surely you have seen my love
Down where the waters wind:
He walks like one who fears no man
And yet his eyes are kind!
O, surely you have seen my love
At the turning of the tide:
For then he gathers in his nets
Down by the waterside!
Yes, lassie we have seen your love
At the turning of the tide:
For he was with the fisher folk
Down by the waterside.
The fisher folk worked at their trade
No far from Walnut Grove:
They gathered in their dripping nets
And found your one true love!
Keywords/Tags: William Soutar, Scottish, Scot, Scotsman, ballad, water, waterside, tide, nets, nets, fisher, fishers, fisher folk, fishermen, love, sea, ocean, lost, lost love, loss
The Woman is A Danish
And married to A Scottish
But often heard in English:
Language she speaks with relish…
But the Rather Stand-Offish:
At times slippery like Fish
Or like things one wouldn’t wish,
For example Leaf-Filled Dish
To be served Vegetarian
Or Flesh to a Barbarian…
A Thief-Catching Librarian
And Confirmed True Lutheran!
If there is anything prettier than Scottish sea glass
I have yet to see it;
It reminds me of the beauty of the ocean,
It has a gorgeousness that shows up most other things
I choose my pieces carefully and build a mobile,
knowing the recipient will be uplifted by her wonderfulness.
Spending a late autumn break
in the Scottish Borders countryside
though the climate then so cloudy
didn't deter as I got on my stride
Galashiels was our first base
staying at aq lovely accommodation
visited Sir Walter Scott's own home
stood in awe, such a poetic occasion
There was a wonderful tapestry
on display in Galashiels town
takes you through Scotland's history
such skill uplifts never to drown
We then moved on to Peebles Hydro
which eas a lovely hotel no doubt
with nice short walks way down
where River Tweed flows into town
The Scottish Borders are a treat
especially in autumn time of year
other highlights being Selkirk and Moffat
so many delights bring much cheer!
(Having spent a week in the Scottish Borders recently, just writing this piece about my experience of the highlights of this trip.)
Look out your window
What do you see?
That is your weather
That's all from me!
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