14 Scots Poems From The Gargoyle Man Poem by Sheena Blackhall

1.A Border Yowe on the Referendum
Miles an miles o English girse
Miles o English yowes
Keechin on the bosky braes
Chawin up the howes

Aince the referendum's by
A yowe will ay be oo
Fower mutton shanks wi puddens
Makkin haggis, soups an stew

The English yowes will still say baa
As yowes hae daen afore
Whether or no the vote swings roon
Tae steek Auld Scotia's door


2. H.M. Open Prison Leyhill/Tortwoth Court Mansion
This gran auld English manor hoose
Has neebors ower the hedge
As quaet an as private
As a plot o fenced in veg

Aye, rapists, murderers, muggers
Sleep ower the wye, nae fuss
Fit ither lives I winner
Bide parallel tae us?

Oh jyle birds, bonnie jyle birds
Yer prison has nae waas
Sae spreid yer wings an flaff awa
Like aa the ither craaas!


3.Weighty Matters
Like herds o Indian jumbos
The clouds gyang thunnerin by
An should ane drap upon oor heids
It's ta-ta you an I



Twa poems bi Ryokan Owersett in Scots

4.The eyn o the year
The eyn o the year
The hale warld birls
Wi the hotter an steer o gift-giein

Anely ma theekit hame
Bides peaceful an quaet
Fit kinno thanks can I gie tae Buddha?
Ae stick o incense
Ae while o meditation


5.Raindraps on the Banana Leaves
Fin yer auld an fooshtie
The slichtest soun waukens ye
Ma licht flichters, a gloamin shooer passes
I smeeth ma bowster an in seelence
Lippen tae the doonpish
Drappin throwe the banana leaves
Fa can I share the feelin o this meenit wi?



Twa Poems bi Wang Wei Owersett in Scots

6.Seein a Frien aboot tae gyang Hame Soothwards
Ten thoosan miles aa aroon
Spring warms inno Simmer
Ower three muckle rivers,
Anely a puckle migratin birdies rise
The Han River is braidenin inno Heiven

A lanely guest sets aff for Ying
In Yun, young rice growes braw
In Shu the veggies are fat
Hingin ower the toun yett an glowerin
I see a frien's bricht jaiket
Hyne awa an dwinnlin


7.Girnin Aboot ma Fite Hair
Aince I had pink chikks. Noo ma teeth are blaik
O a Suddenty, ma fite hair's
Like a loon's pigtail, saft an huddrie

In ae life, foo mony times can the hairt brakk?
Gin I dinna turn tae the yett o Naethin-ness
Foo can I cleanse ma hairt?



8.Fit Ma Toun Kens
It kens the satty skelp o the North Sea tide
It kens the dirlin skirl o the fierce sea maws
It kens the fremmit leids the herbour brings
It kens the haar an the springtime's wattergaws

It hears the bells chime in the Mither Kirk
It hears the dirdum-dree o the traffic soun
It hears the saft curmur o stravaigin doos
It hears twa rivers, gaun tae the sea tae droon

It sees the beggar priggin siller in neuks
It sees the trauchelt shopper, the business chiel
It sees the mither's ringless haun, her tcyauve
It sees the littlins breengin alang tae skweel

It murns the peace o mediaeval times
It murns the sprauchle o suburbs raxxin oot
It murns tint birds, an burnies biggit ower
It murns that Orchard Street bears nae mair fruit


9.A Letter Tae Rabbie Burns
Weel Rabbie, here's a line or twa
Tae say Man still believes yer braw
Ye've lowsed sae mony thochts tae blaw
O'er Ben an brae
Yer still ten heids abune us aa
On yer Birthday

Ye'd hae nae lack o weeminkind
Thin, creashie, orra, roch, refined
Aa willin tae be wined an dined
Nae kirk tae bray
‘Gainst houghmagandie's bump an grind
On yer Birthday

Ay Rab, ye'd be a media star
A global hit baith near an far
Dogged bi the press at ilkie bar
Each wird ye'd say
Wad still dunt Wonder's yetts ajar
On yer Birthday


10.The Birk bi the Lochan Spikks
Booin abune the loch
Leaves are ma listenin lugs
They swey tae the glugger an glumph
O win-skelped waves
Ma reets rin faddoms deep
Unner the loch's blaik foun

A stipple o green
Nae cradle swings sae sweet
I ken ma place
I'm reared tae thole the Sizzens
I am weirin ma simmer goun

Ma sap hauds auncient lear
Ye hae forgot. The wirm chaps at ma yett
Ae day it'll ding me doon

It is eneuch, betimes, tae reap the hairst o sun
Afore the lowes o Autumn burn ma briest
Afore the Winter takks me for his bride
Slippin anither ring roon ma timmer wyme
Afore the blin drift an the cranreuch's stoun


11.Winnie Aged Ane
Winnie disnae gie a snuff
Winnie disnae gee her ginger
Takk awa her favourite toy
Watch her, ragin, gyang her dinger

Winnie sleepin's like an angel
Winnie waukent's foo o tricks
Bubblin on the edge o spikkin
Toddlin in her romper brikks.

Winnie's een are fu o mischief
Caa her ower, a jack in box
Up she lowps, a hardy gurran
Like a Vernal Equinox

A sweet bud, a curly powe
She sclimms her faither's shanks until
She is heistit for a bosie
Boos aa comers tae her will


12.Yew
The Bruce set doon a firm decree
That each chiel wirth a coo
Maun makk a yew bow for hissel
Tae fecht as weel as ploo

Syne ithers ryped the yew tree's side
For bagpipes, shuttles, chanters
Blythe clarsachs, sae thon hinneyed strum
Micht sweeten life's mishanters

The yew growes doon aneth the mools
Its reets drink corpses' bluid
An as the bodies dwine awa
Freed sowels wing roon its heid



13.In the Solstice Lowe I Burn
In the Solstice lowe I burn
Jaw o yowe tae jyne the flame
An in daein thon I murn
Aa that dees, an sae I nane
In ma heid, the waukrife deid
Filin ben the birlin rikk
Loued or hated, kind or cauld
Slaw an ugsome, bonnie, quick

As thon spirks rise tae the lift
Sae like aa the lave I'll shift
As a nest, wi patience vrocht
In a meenit's blawn tae nocht



14.Gaitherins
I heard a leverock in the lift
I saw a bawd lowp brave an braw
The taste o truth wis in ma mou
As wersh as ony bitter haw

I brushed a nettle wi ma shank
An reid ma skin raise up.The stang
Quaetened the stoun. Amangst the thrang
O sichts an souns the day set oot
Like ony host lays oot a feast
The soun I langed for maist ava…
The hoolet cryin in her resst