Scottish Holidays Poem by Nereva Notswa

Scottish Holidays

The Farmer and the Duke

“No firebrand on my land! ” said the duke, as a rebuke.
His tenant, unpenant, had fought the duke’s wrought:
the right to own the land he lives on.
The duke had plenty farmers who rented, so he relented.
The farmer and his wife realized the dream of their life.
They now own the land and the lovely old house,
with two hundred cattle and a wee mouse.
This he told us when we stopped to talk, on a Scottish evening walk.
Labrador Beth took us back to dinner, in Thornhill hotel, a real winner.
There is a moral to this story:
it pays to take a stand and fight
against what seems invincible might.
One ends up rewarded with glory!






The Cormorant

I had enough to eat
and love this seat
in the sun.
The wind on the face is fun.
No enemy in sight,
nothing to fight,
so don’t come too near
moving men I do fear!
I am totally free
to fly over the sea
but I like to sit here
where the rock pool is clear.
I love to watch the moving sky
While the day is dry,
See the glitters in the sea,
The pebbles whetted by spree.
Do join and stay,
At a distance you may!





Holy Island

From outside it looks like a crumb spilled in the sea
with just about place for a bee, or two or three.
Once inside it is the still center of space
where one can see one’s face
in the fruitful earth
and the crystal clear firth;
in the garden where man and finch find food;
in the land where life is good;
in the sky where cloud plays with gull;
in the whole play, where nothing is dull.

(April 2009)