And now I have a sturdy place to go.
A place to watch the forest grow.
Sit long enough, and quiet enough, and you will wonder so:
Who is watching who grow?
#construction #poetry #deconstructing
poetry
Ravens are kekklin’ prophecies o’ woe,
Pyots in black an’ white spiel superstitions,
The rooks mak’ bedlam i’ the elms below,
An’ saft-winged hoolets plan their midnicht missions…
—Helen Cruickshank, “Corstorphine Woods”
pulished in A KIST O SKINKLAN THINGS (ASL, 2017)
https://asls.org.uk/publications/books/volumes/a-kist-o-skinlan-things/
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #Scots #Scotslanguage #naturewriting
Did Odysseus Really Travel All Around the Mediterranean?
"The traditional view of the Odyssey is that Odysseus traveled all over the Mediterranean. Is that really what Homer described?"
https://www.thecollector.com/odysseus-travels-mediterranean/
The Odyssey at PG:
Some one was singing
Up a twisty stair,
A fragment of a song,
One sweet, spring day,
When twelve o’clock was ringing,
Through the sunny square…
—Marion Angus (1865–1946), “Remembrance Day”
first published in THE LILT AND OTHER VERSES (1922)
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #warpoetry #WW1 #RemembranceDay
Hamish Henderson (1919–2002) – poet, soldier, intellectual, activist, songwriter – was born #OTD, 11 Nov. A hugely important figure in Scottish culture, Henderson fought in North Africa & Italy in WW2. A 🎂🧵
There were no gods and precious few heroes…
—“Elegies for the Dead in Cyrenaica”
1/10
#Scottish #literature #HamishHenderson #20thcentury #culture #poetry #poem #warpoetry #WW2 #RemembranceDay
Norman MacCaig (1910–1996) was born #OTD, 14 November. A self-described “Zen Calvinist”, when asked how long it took him to write a poem he would reply “one cigarette – or two for a long one”
A 🎂🧵
“Toad”
published in THE POEMS OF NORMAN MacCAIG (Birlinn, 2009)
1/12
https://birlinn.co.uk/product/the-poems-of-norman-maccaig/
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #20thcentury #NormanMacCaig
English poet Agnes Bulmer was born #OTD in 1775.
Bulmer’s most famous work is Messiah's Kingdom, an epic poem consisting of 14 books and over 14,000 lines, written in blank verse. The poem, which took over 9 years to complete, was published in 1833. It is is is probably the longest work in verse ever composed by a woman.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Bulmer#
Messiah's Kindgdom is available at @internetarchive:
https://archive.org/details/messiahskingdomp00bulm
Hpy Bdy
I am not here.
Not really. And not as you
read these imaginary words
resisting the urge to flee
the page crowded white
words filling every pixel .
Coffee unhelpful in
the face of great opposit
-ions bouncing every where
but where I wish
To be, I must choose
John Maclean: All that life can give us
19 Nov, University of Stirling – free
Author & poet Henry Bell will discuss his creative & historical work around Scottish socialist John Maclean, followed by an open archive and poetry reading
#Scottish #literature #poetry #history #Labourhistory #socialism #RedClydeside #JohnMaclean
Look now, look quick – a shooting star!
Make your wish! It’s very far
From here to where the active light
Set out and streaked across a night
In Glasgow’s greatly dark November…
—Edwin Morgan, “Leonids”
in the London Review of Books, June 2000
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v22/n12/edwin-morgan/four-poems
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #astronomy #leonids #meteor #EdwinMorgan
Outlaw, fiddler, & folk hero James Macpherson (c.1675–1700) was hanged #OTD, 16 November, for being Romani. Prior to his execution Macpherson composed his famous “Rant”. Macpherson sang this lament on the gallows & smashed his fiddle before meeting his fate
1/7
#Scottish #literature #history #18thcentury #earlymodern #Romani #poem #poetry #song #folksong
Smoke in the woods
like someone walking in a silent film
beside the tracks…
—John Burnside, “Signal Stop, Near Horsley”
published in SELECTED POEMS (Cape, 2006)
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/389400/selected-poems-by-burnside-john/9780224078030
For those lucky to have the means to buy gifts this holiday season, #MindfulSpending is power.
Do we really need more stuff this year, or should we spend on causes that need support?
We don’t stop billionaires by pouring more money into their pockets. Collectively, we can shift the holiday spend to small businesses, small presses, indie #art #music #poetry #writing, etc.
Imagine that.
What are you going to do
With what is left of yourself
Now among the rustling
Of your maybe best years?
—WS Graham, “An Entertainment for WS Graham for Him Having Reached Sixty-Five”
The Modernist romantic poet W.S. Graham (1918–1986) was born #OTD, 19 November
A 🎂 🧵
1/7
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #modernism #romanticism #WSGraham
Centre for Robert Burns Studies Conference
17 January, University of Glasgow – £25 (includes tea, coffee, lunch, & a toast)
A day conference exploring the life, work, & legacy of Robert Burns.This year, the conference theme is the Burns Supper: a global phenomenon that celebrates its 225th anniversary in 2026.
@litstudies
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/centre-for-robert-burns-studies-conference-tickets-1851549627779
#Scottish #literature #RobertBurns #18thcentury #poetry #song #romanticism #BurnsSupper
A liuthad soitheach a dh’fhàg ar dùthaich
le sgiathan geala a’ toirt Chanada orra.
Tha iad mar neapaigearan ’nar cuimhne
’s an sàl mar dheoirean,
’s anns na croinn aca seòladairean a’ seinn
mar eòin air gheugan.
—Iain Mac a’ Ghobhainn, “Na h-Eilthirich” (Iain Crichton Smith, “The Exiles”)
published in Nua-Bhardachd Gaidhlig / Modern Scottish Gaelic Poems, @canongatebooks 1999
https://canongate.co.uk/books/193-modern-scottish-gaelic-poems-a-bilingual-anthology/
#Scottish #literature #Gaidhlig #Gaelic #poem #poetry #Clearances #emigration #exile
I’m truly sorry Man’s dominion
Has broken Nature’s social union,
An’ justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle,
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion,
An’ fellow-mortal!
—Robert Burns, “To a Mouse, On turning her up in her Nest, with the Plough, November 1785”
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #RobertBurns #Scots #Scotlsanguage #environmentalism #naturewriting #18thCentury #Romanticism #November #winter
American poet and playwright Georgia Douglas Johnson was born #OTD in 1880.
Her first collection of poetry, "The Heart of a Woman" (1918), was one of the earliest books of poetry published by a Black woman in the United States. Her second volume, "Bronze" (1922), focuses more explicitly on racial issues, delving into the experiences of Black Americans and the injustices they faced in society.
Spanish writer Francisco Gómez de Quevedo y Villegas died #OTD in 1645.
Along with his lifelong rival, Luis de Góngora, Quevedo was one of the most prominent Spanish poets of the age. His style is characterized by what was called conceptismo. This style existed in stark contrast to Góngora's culteranismo.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_de_Quevedo
Books by Francisco de Quevedo at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/35792
Whole Duty of Children
by Robert Louis Stevenson
A child should always say what’s true
And speak when he is spoken to,
And behave mannerly at table:
At least as far as he is able.
—from A CHILD’S GARDEN OF VERSES (1885)
Today, 20 November, is World Children’s Day.
https://www.unicef.org/take-action/campaigns/world-childrens-day
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #19thcentury #children #childrensliterature #kidlit #RobertLouisStevenson #WorldChildrensDay
"Gedanken über die Zukunft der Kinder und Enkel". Systembetrachtung aus der Sicht einer 🌱 Heilpflanze.
Es sind Gedanken zu gesellschaftlichen Entwicklungen, getragen von dem Wunsch etwas beizutragen und helfen zu wollen, wenn möglich. Ein Geschenk. Bedingungslos. Denn - Es ist ein unvorstellbar großes Abenteuer, dieses UNIVERSUM ... :-) :-) :-)
#Poesie #poetry #kultur #kunst #Bayern #Hoffnungsgeschichten #Hanfgeschichten #hope #cop30 #Merz #Soder #Klingbeil #ThorstenFrei #Reiche #Kulturkampf
Trouble is not my middle name.
It is not what I am.
I was not born for this…
—Liz Lochhead, “Listen”
A poem written for the Children’s Panel, to encourage new voluntary members, 2012. Published in FUGITIVE COLOURS (Polygon, 2016)
https://birlinn.co.uk/product/fugitive-colours/
#Scottish #literature #childhood #children #poem #poetry #WorldChildrensDay
See ma mammy
See ma dinner ticket
A pititnma
Pokit an she pititny
Washnmachine…
—Margaret Hamilton, “Lament for a Lost Dinner Ticket”
published in NEW POEMS 1972–73: a PEN anthology of contemporary poetry, ed. Douglas Dunn (Hutchinson, 1973)
https://www.scotslanguage.com/articles/node/id/21
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #childhood #children #Scots #Scotslanguage ##WorldChildrensDay
The lights from the parlour and kitchen shone out
Through the blinds and the windows and bars;
And high overhead and all moving about,
There were thousands of millions of stars…
—Robert Louis Stevenson, “Escape at Bedtime”
from A CHILD’S GARDEN OF VERSES (1885)
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #Childrensliterature #kidlit #childhood #children #19thcentury #Victorian #RobertLouisStevenson #WorldChildrensDay