The context of the poem

Tom Leonard was born in Glasgow, and has continued to live there. He has described his childhood upbringing as 'working class West of Scotland Irish Catholic' (his father was from Dublin). Although his passport identifies him as a 'British' citizen, Tom Leonard sees himself as thoroughly Scottish.

Almost all his poetry is written in his own Glasgow dialect. His aim has always been to make poetry using 'my own ordinary working-class West of Scotland speech, that is still poetry'. He says he is interested in 'the political nature of voice in British culture'.

Unrelated Incidents is a set of six poems, each of which looks at some aspect of the way we use language. It was written in 1976.