da pressit muse - April 2006

...its a'richt. I'm happy tae admit that I was wrang and you were
richt. Bit whit's new? It wis chust great hearin Christine De Luca on the wireless last week spikan wi Finnish makar Rina Katajavuori(Beeb R4 in "With love from me to you"); a' the mairso 's I hid chist feenished Christine's buik: Wast wi da Valkyries last week! I hid ma doots initially, whether the notion o' bringin twa poets (presumably relative strangers) t' gither in a dramatised e-mail exchange wid wark, but it did, and I loved the wie Christine read her poems.
I ken your deeved wi' wark but if you have a meenit or twa tae spare you can hear Christine readin some of her makins at the following link: "http://www.christinedeluca.co.uk">

Stromness April 2006
Craw-steps
abune flags polished
wi auld blether

Aye aye...I'm richt
blide y'enjoyed
your visit tae the De Lucca site.

Onie thochts as tae whit
my favourite poem wis?

Ah! "Da Cockle Shall":
I chist luved the wie
she interwove the metaphor
o the shall lace pattern
intae the sea and place imagery
o that wee pairt o Shetland.

Hoo did Bag the Bruck go?
I ken, I meant tae
tak pairt, bit
my knee wis playin up again
and I wid hae been mair
o hindrance than a help.

Scapa wis clean a new preen
on Sunday morning and
we saw muckle mounds
o' de green bruck saicks
a' ower the East Mainland .
Y'must have been
fair breeksed aifterwards. Weel dune!

Oot stavagin wi the Bodach,
on Tuesday, we saw twa swallows
skimmin oe'r warebalks at Scapa. Shore
flies a plenty there fir maet.

Fegs-
tae think that twa-three weeks syne
they wid hae been flyin
o'er African skys

On the wie hame,
in ane o Crantit's rashy parks,
three hares(twa Jacks and a Jill)
were coortin-gyte. Hare
luve is a gey roch business.

Scapa Haiku

stravagin
a'tween hares and teeicks
the west wind