Thirteen Ways Of Looking At A Stag Poem by Sheena Blackhall

I
In the heart of the glen,
It stares out of the gloaming
A stag with 12 tines, a majestic Royal
II
The Gaels called the deer folk Fiadh Ruaidh
Fairy cattle
The fairies milked the hinds on the high Bens

III
His forebears have been in this glen
Since Stone-age times
Part of the sky, the rocks,
The deep Caledonian forest

IV
The Celts worshipped him as Cernunnos
Great God of the Woods
The Horned God, Lotus Seated
On the Gundestrup Cauldron

V
I love every part of him
Antlers, hide, venison
Sparkling eye
Lord of the moor and loch

VI
His horn is carved
Into jewellery, weapons, tools
Knife and cromach handles
Spoons for the warrior's table

VII
In South Korea, the velvet from his antlers
Is used in holistic medicine
His horns are worn by shamen around the world

VIII
He is loved by stalkers
Wealthy hunters who kill and cull his kind

IX
He is loved by artists
Stubbs, Franz Marc,
Sir Edwin Landseer
The Monarch of the Glen a Scottish Icon
Value,4 million pounds

X
In the rut, in early October
He fills the Bens and hinds'ears
With his belling
Clashing antlers with rivals to win his harem

XI
He dips his muzzle into the icy loch
Then raises his short-maned neck
Water dripping like pearls from his mouth

XII
The peak of the ben is white
A dusting of snow is wetting
His rusty back

XIII
He crunches tree bark,
Lichens, mosses, heather
Snorts a halo of mist
In the frosty air