Journey Northwards Poem by Joyce Hemsley

I know not where I am going
The road is strange before me
Must use my brain in the pouring-down rain
The clouds seem darker this morning.

Turn to the east or turn to the west?
That vital question is looming
No! Keep straight on to the crags beyond
Where the highlands greet the lowlands.

Scared am I, and I know just why
Desolate terrain surrounds me
My view is obscured - but say not a word
I'm two miles south of Stirling.

Suddenly the sun is shining
The mountains are singing for awhile
In country of Robert Bruce, Robbie Burns
Sir Walter Scott and Thomas Carlyle.

Some famous landmarks I must visit
And enjoy the land of Scottish grace.
I have an urge to visit the Castle
And to shop around in the Market Place.

Forgetting about the warring factions
The eighteenth century has long gone by
I will soon say farewell to the River Forth
And the azure blue of a northern sky.

Now homeward to Sunderland I am bound
And the road is familiar before me
My journey is done ~ satisfaction is won
And another new autumn is dawning.