unweelness gane -
at the winnock her bricht een
forsythia- lit




illness gone -
at the window her bright eyes
forsythia- lit

cluds furmin
moutenin -
Lady's dowie vice




clouds forming
dissolving -
Lady's sad voice


(for Billie Holiday)

his furst veesit
tae the clinic
..a wab streens i the wund




his first visit
to the clinic
...a web strains in the wind

mornin deow -
ilka bledd o girse
enlichtens




morning dew -
every blade of grass
enlightens

mavis
back on'ts heels -
wirm losses




thrush
back on its heels -
worm loses

kirkyaird gien ower
lairstanes cowpt ...aye
the daffins mynd on




derelict churchyard
headstones toppled...still
the daffodils remember

craws gae halfers
on a chinky
...thair chopstick nebs




crows share
a spilt chinese meal
...their chopstick beaks

day aff
the baunker
coonts's daffins




day off
the banker
counts his daffodils

bi the Madonna's shrine
a camellia buss -
buds reiddenin blately




by the Madonna's shrine
a camellia bush -
buds reddening shyly

scuil-bell - the sotter
cuils tae wammly raws
aside the stane crocodile




school-bell - the chaos
cools to wriggly lines
beside the stone crocodile

on the tree
a kervit hert
whaur the trunk sinders




on the tree
a carved heart
where the trunk seperates

craw widdie
twa craws muve in -
she sens'm oot fir browls




rookery
two crows move in -
she sends him out for twigs

deid mappie -
...aw thae fur-lined
nests




dead rabbit -
...all those fur-lined
nests

mappie's neb etten
...a hinmaist muin
in tod's ee




rabbit's face eaten
...a last moon
in fox's eye

furst day o voar
smirks brustin oot
a'whaur




first day of spring
smiles bursting out
everywhere

anither yirdin -
craw in's bleck's
forrit




another funeral -
crow in his black
attends

snell day
the tinker's baries
her guidman's gowden cheens




cold day
the gypsy's bare feet
her husband's golden chains

mither's day
athort her photy
sheddae o a burd




mother's day
across her photograph
shadow of a bird

furst snaw
on the tosie brainches
mizzlin




first snow
on the warm branches
melting

wunter wisteria
huils hing
...bawkies i ma drames




winter wisteria
pods hang
...bats in my dreams

craw stots narrer
cocks's heid at oor leid:
suddron in a gylick lan




crow hops nearer
cocks his head at our language:
english in a gaelic land

lum reek liggs flet
howf winnocks shak
...tin fussle spring




chimney smoke lies flat
pub windows shake
...tin whistle reel

skirlin saws aw day -
the nicht oor neibour's lichts
rax oot till us




screaming saws all day -
tonight our neighbour's lights
reach out to us

douce reek
o brennin scrogs heaves
...speirins o a fere's daith




sweet incense
of burning brushwood rises
...news of a friend's death

haudin by the hospice -
suddentlie wintin
tae find masel fir kernels




passing the hospice -
suddenly wanting
to feel myself for lumps

craw nest biggin -
his baird
o swansdoon




crow nest building -
his beard
of swansdown

bi the weir cairn
the gean's flourish
cum an gane




by the war memorial
the cherry tree's blossom
come and gone

on her nest
deuk skews her ee
a clud faws in




on her nest
duck turns her eye
a cloud falls in

bawdrons streeks i the sin
abuin'm
gean sproots dae the samen




cat streches in the sun
above him
cherry buds do the same

brummle buss sprootin
deep doon
the fruit's bree gaitherin




bramble bush budding
deep down
the fruit's juices gathering

efter the onding
she cycles shooglie lik
atween the cluds




after the shower
she cycles shakily
between the clouds

hailin mass: hailie uilie
fous ma luif's lifeline
a first meysie smirks




healing mass: holy oil
fills my palm's lifeline
a first primrose smiles

o the hail wuid
myndin the peerie
raing o daffins




of the whole forest
remembering the tiny
ring of daffodils

nestin time
craw goves
intae the derk lum




nesting time
crow gazes
into the dark chimney

derk cluds rowe awa
a craw sowps
frae glaizie tractor-steids




dark clouds roll away
a crow drinks
from glittering tractor-tracks

hairst muin:
on a throu-gaun bus
ilka neb reflecks




harvest moon:
on a passing bus
every face reflects

coble hindert -
we hunker tentie
o the maws lavein




ferry-boat cancelled -
we sit watching
the gulls leave

jazz souchs
throuch the gairden
awthing shaks a fit




jazz wafts
through the garden
everything dances

voar mornin
a chiel
fusslin




spring morning
a man
whistling

gurly lift
a siller birk stauns
wildfire on the brae




stormy sky
a silver birch stands
lightning on the hill

novice
her spleet-new robes
...her lick




novice
her new robes
...her speed

parkit, tentie:
jazz upmak - asweil's
reid-neb




parked, listening:
jazz improvisation - plus
oyster-catcher

tide's oot
maws an boaties
lie at peace




tide's out
gulls and boats
sitting motionless

mairch wunds
daffins
lichtenin, derkenin




march winds
daffodils
lightening, darkening