TROKE DAY -
an airlie bang up
fir the hameless chiel




SALES DAY -
an early rise
for the homeless man

burn in spate -
deuks jookin
aneath the brig




flooded stream -
ducks ducking
beneath the bridge

yule carols
droont oot:
ferris wheelers' skirls




Christmas carols
drowned out:
ferris wheelers' screams

Yule EEN -
the hostel
fou o yin-time santas




Christmas Eve -
the hostel
full of one-time santas

fou muin -
skeetchers sloom
in tranquility




full moon -
skaters glide
in tranquility

nippie hailstanes -
the guitarist's
blae fingers




stinging hailstones -
the guitarist's
blue fingers

the bodach pensefu -
leaves rowe
throuch the years




the old man musing -
leaves roll
through the years

maws fecht ower the bucket
...hameless
he squerrs's shouthers




gulls fight over the dustbin
...homeless
he squares his shoulders

derk roarie day -
no a mensefu burd
tae be gliskit




dark roaring day -
not a sensible bird
to be seen

roon the wa's
faimlie photies
takkin tent o's deein




round the walls
family photographs
watching him die

faither's tree -
speirin oot ma life
alang'ts brainches




father's tree -
tracing my life
along its branches

scuil bairns
settin aff bulbs
...voartime nebs




school children
planting bulbs
...springtime faces

keek o day -
reid rab dookin
watter slawly reiddenin




sunrise -
a robin bathing
water slowly reddening

oot frae the baurber
wund roon ma lugs
...throuch scabbit brainches




out from the barber
wind round my ears
...through bare branches

geese
winnin awa
...a dowie owercum




geese
leaving
...a sad refrain

hielant kye -
weet dreeps frae the taps
o thair horns




highland cattle -
rain drips from the tips
of their horns

cauld mornin -
the eesock
maks me caulder




cold morning -
the dipper
makes me colder

forleetit ferm -
ploo,hey-sned,fa'n aipples
roostin




abandoned farm -
plough,scythe,fallen apples
rusting

the fiddlie's
shot fingers -
jeegs slawed tae waltzes




the fiddler's
arthritic fingers -
jigs slowed to waltzes

hielant veesit -
traikit a'ready
o wattergaws




highland visit -
weary already
of rainbows