poem

Bu taitneach leam ‘s b’e m’ iarratas
Bhith ‘n-diugh air thriall le bàta
‘S i stiùireadh tarsainn fiarach linn
Gu tìr nan ciar-bheann àrda.

Bu chaomh leam pìob nah garbh-dhos ann
Air ghleusadh tallanach làidir,
‘S bhiodh meòir a’ pògadh stararaich ghlan
‘S ceòl neo-shearbh ga fàgail.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My joy and my delight would be
To set off by ship today,
Travelling the ocean
To the land of high grey mountains

I’d love to hear the pipe of drones
Tuned both echoing and strong,
Fingers leaping in rippling notes
And sweet music coming out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Iain Archie MacAskill,

an excerpt from:

‘Mì-Chliù nan Daoine Dubha, 1930’
‘The Ill-Fame of the Black Men, 1930’

untitled

Whatever it is-
A strong drink,
A loud song,
A dirty message,
A friendly chat,
A good book,
A promised lunch,
Put up with it
And please-
Don’t begrudge it

It may just
Be helping me
Get through
The day

Out,

out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.
It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

~William Shakespeare

Hugging my Grudge

I have weapons and battle plans,
But in my heart I know
I can't ever protect you from
Things I don't understand.

And when I hold you in my arms
It scares me just to
Think that something so beautiful
Could just come apart in my hands.

I've always been chasing rainbows
Staring out of classroom windows.
I don't think I'll ever be happy,
Unless I'm unhappy and hugging my grudge.

I was too dumb to settle down,
So I packed up and I left town
On a sunshine bus
Wondering where it all went wrong.

On a flimsy wing and a prayer,
I followed my heart everywhere
'Til I ended up
Right back where I started from.

I've always been quietly dreaming.
I don't know when I've been beaten.
I don't think I'll ever be happy,
Unless I'm unhappy and hugging my grudge.

I've always been chasing rainbows
Staring out of classroom windows.
I don't think I'll ever be happy,
Unless I'm unhappy and hugging my grudge.

I've always been quietly dreaming.
I don't know when I've been beaten.
I don't think I'll ever be happy,
Unless I'm unhappy and hugging my grudge.

Pink Panther Country

Where is Pink Panther Country, you ask?

Durham, Durham, etc. (sorry, you asked for it)

On Monday afternoon I got a train down to Newcastle then Durham to meet with some mates from College and my brother. Much adventuring ensued, including a concert by the Tyne, playing tennis at Durham University, and climbing the Cathedral Tower. All 300 odd steps of it. Phew.

At the moment University life is easy, having finished exams. This summer is a perfect chance to see a lot of reading, writing and photography done, so I'm looking forwards to being able to say I've completed / achieved stuff by the new University Year in September.

Which, incidentally, starts rather late in the month :) Tough life...