autistic laddie
faw'n ower
cartoons jiggin on's neb




autistic boy
fallen asleep
cartoons dancing on his face

sin braks throuch -
a steel caber
boos i the burn




sun breaks through -
a steel beam
bends in the stream

haggit wuid -
a singul burd
dairtin throuch the quate




felled forest -
a single bird
darting through the silence

treen owerhing -
the burn chynges
frae bibblin licht tae grumlie




trees overhang -
the stream changes
from bubbling light to gloomy

bairns skelloch
airms i the err -
playgrun fou o bibbles




children scream
arms in the air -
playground full of bubbles

cluds
passin ower
fou o dubs




clouds
passing over
full of puddles

saumon fir tae -
ma fingers
jowelt




salmon for tea -
my fingers
jewelled

weet fir days -
in the syver
pran o yestreen's speirins




rain for days -
in the gutter
pulp of yesterday's news

furst communicants'
blinterin croons
...leaf-pynts hingit wi sparks




first communicants'
glittering diadems
...leaf-tips hung with raindrops

hauf-fou halflins
sclimin the stair -
paidlin squaiks intae her drame




tiddly teenagers
climbing the stairs -
pressing squeaks into her dream

doverin -
Yamaguchi's haiku
heavin an fawin




dozing -
Yamaguchi's haiku
rising and falling

solstice -
hid i the haar
the neist six month




solstice -
hidden in the mist
the next six months

ranter -
muckle-boukit in a dub
aneath the wildfire




reveller -
pregnant in a puddle
beneath the lightning

...doon the burn
a singul rose petal
wyves atween the deuks




...down the stream
a single rose petal
weaves between the ducks

a blink
frae the puppie -
a bummer in'ts ee




a wink
from the poppy -
a bumblebee in its eye

athort the new rin-in
bawdrons' fuitprents -
sall ootlast us baith




across the new driveway
cat's footprints -
shall outlast us both

raxin fir a clud
the bairn tottles -
sits i the dub smirkin




reaching for a cloud
the toddler topples -
sits in the puddle smiling

weet stertin
attercap rinnin
atween the draps




rain starting
spider running
between the drops

a splatch
o wull roobrub
...diddlin i the weet




a patch
of wild rhubarb
...singing in the rain

weet - tirrin
the gean's petals
yin bi yin




rain - stripping
the rose's petals
one by one

craw
wi's bleck neb
sowps a singul spark




crow
with his huge beak
sips a single raindrop

hern, stane-still -
wund suddentlik
pooks a fedder frae's weeng




heron, stone-still -
wind suddenly
plucks a feather from his wing

govein doon on hern -
govein doon
intae the watter




gazing down on heron -
gazing down
into the watter

a breer -
nettles heeld forrit
gairdin it




a wild rose -
nettles lean forward
gaurding it

blowster -
wabs bairdie
wi thrisseldoon




gales -
webs bearded
with thistledown

the fisher
kestin's piece-box
catchit a burd




the fisherman
casting his sandwich-box
caught a bird

frae'r daith-bed
she seis the brummle's flourish
gie wey tae the fruit




from her death-bed
she sees the bramble's blossom
give way to the fruit

a mornin
o dubs:
rhymin awthing




a morning
of puddles:
repeating everything

the convent gairden's
gnomes hae pawkie smirks -
yin plays the box




the convent garden's
gnomes have roguish smiles -
one plays the accordian

clematis
raxin apen -
nae bummers the day




clematis
straining open -
no bees today

deuklins on the towe-peth -
amangst the yella gowans:
bawdron's een




ducklings on the tow-path -
amongst the buttercups:
cat's eyes

sainit wi haly ile
a prees ma broo
agin ma guiwife's




blest with holy oil
I press my forehead
against my wife's

twa bleckies on a stug
centuries-auld sangs
in thair nebs




two blackbirds on a stump
centuries-old songs
in their beaks

butterie
foryettin,myndin,
foryettin...the wey




butterfly
forgetting,remembering,
forgetting...the way

ootby the howf
youthie speuggies
in a stramash




outside the pub
young sparrows
disturbing the peace

ootby the vennel
a puil o bluid -
fuchsias owerhingin




outside the alley
a pool of blood -
fuchsias overhanging

michaelmas gowans
gove athort the causey
tae the kirk ferr




michaelmas daisies
gaze across the street
to the church fair

aw day
sneddin treen -
a bog on ma pillae




all day
pruning trees -
a bug on my pillow

reid puppies
heeld thegither
...derk een




red poppies
lean together
...dark eyes

roukie mornin -
sheddae burds unnerwatter
sheddae burds i the err




misty morning -
shadow birds underwater
shadow birds in the air

cushets on a brainch
his weeng roon her shouthers
...croose




wood pigeons on a branch
his wing round her shoulders
...confident

atween the bodach
an the speuggie:
brukken breid




between the old man
and the sparrow:
broken bread

a furst burd veesits -
the peerie aipple tree
boos




a first bird visits -
the tiny apple tree
bows

the cailleach's roses
heeld oot
intae the ceetie




the old lady's roses
lean out
into the city

pheelosopher...
bleart refleckshun
in's fuskie




philosopher...
bleary reflection
in his whisky

roses hing frae the wa
...nebs o the
orphantage bairns




roses hang from the wall
...faces of the
orphanage children

bummer slidderin oot
frae the lady's thummles -
its wark duin




bee slipping out
of the foxglove's bell -
its work done

the deein sinflooer
goves
intae the bicker




the dying sunflower
stares
into the teacup

in the sin
a craw hunkers
in a dub o bleck fedders




in the sun
a crow sits
in a puddle of black feathers

leaf fleitin slawer
nor the rist o the burn -
the makar in't




leaf floating slower
than the rest of the stream -
the poet in it

a hinmaist
pish-the-bed
taisilt bi the tirl




a last
dandelion-clock
teased by the breeze

abuin the burn
mudges - ower fest
tae lave a sheddae




above the stream
midges - too fast
to leave a shadow

seturday mornin fitbaw -
anither baw
fleits doon the watter




saturday morning football -
another ball
floats downstream