auld sodger stravaigs
...his bleck backpack
o sheddaes




old soldier wanders
...his black backpack
of shadows

blate bairn
nieves steekit in een -
kens whaur she's sauf




shy child
fists bunched in eyes -
knows where she's safe

a hinmaist flee
deein
wi the simmer




a last fly
dying
with the summer

the dool
o the 'tint an fund'
bink




the sadness
of the 'lost and found'
shelf

scuil fecht -
snowkin bluid frae'm
neist day




school fight -
smelling blood from him
next day

wab  -
freestit
rose winnock




web  -
frosted
rose window

referendum eve -
hairst leaves
hing bi a threid




referendum eve -
autumn leaves
hang by a thread

foster bairn -
fauldit in's pooch
mither's hinmaist jot




foster child -
folded in his pocket
mother's last note

spinster's gairden -
wabs
hing frae breers




spinster's garden -
webs
hang from thorns

zip
o a kingfeesher
haar steekin ahint it




zip
of a kingfisher
mist closing behind it

the grue
o tyin a snuid -
granny's arthritis




the horror
of tying a ribbon -
grandmother's arthritis