Midwinter Music (Orkney) Poem by John Beaton

Midwinter Music (Orkney)



The hawthorn branches' lightning lines
are paralleled by seams of white
as snowfall mantles them, each jagged
angle traced,
each pronged and ragged
fork embalmed, perhaps embraced.

Around the fields, old stunted pines
grow flocculent with flakes. Despite
the fires within, the farms are wooled
with snow, their sills
and gutters ruled
and cushioned with small corniced hills.

The drystone dikes have scalloped crests.
On open moors, the windward sides
of standing stones blockade the blow,
black and upright,
till driving snow
feathers them into background white.

The moaning wind stravaigs and quests
but one communal call abides:
as flurries hover, glide, and fall
among the drifts,
inside a hall
a cellist's hand position-shifts.

Monday, September 3, 2018
Topic(s) of this poem: islands,music,scotland
POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
This poem arose from a visit to the Orkney Islands off the north tip of Scotland. They're so windswept they have few trees, but they have many ancient ruins. It was the annual Folk Festival, much of which takes place in village halls, and I was surprised by the number of excellent fiddlers and cellists for the size of the population. Then I considered how it must be there in winter, with bad weather and, because of the northern latitude, short days and long nights. Suddenly, I realized why there were so many fine instrumentalists!

This poem has four stanzas, each in a form I made up: six lines rhymed aabcbc, where the a-rhymes are partial and the b- and c-rhymes full.Lines 1,2,3, and 6 have four beats each and lines 4 and 5, two each.

This poem won the 2015 "String Poet Prize" and was published in "String Poet". The award included creation and performance of a classical music composition inspired by the poem and a two-hour presentation ceremony in Long Island, New York. I attended, heard the music, and recited the poem. It has been republished elsewhere.
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