Click here to hear the poet read his words:
if
if
you were to walk the broad beaches
between the rivers Ayr and Doon
and farther to Greenan Castle
gazing across the broad firth
of the historic Clyde
towards the the Isle of Arran
where the Sleeping Warrior
slumbers forever
in the rugged peaks
and see before you
not a single drop of water
or
you were to scan with anxious eyes
the cloudless night sky
dark as the heart of Mordor
and see no glimmer of light
no trace of a friendly moon
no hint of the eternal stars
nothing but black
or
you were to wander country lanes
through Ayrshire’s rolling hills
and watch as vast herds of cattle
famous for their dairy
search forlornly over the barren earth
for a blade of rich green grass
and slowly starve
or
you were to open a book of poetry
the works of Scotland’s Bard
Robert Burns
to read again Tam O’Shanter
and My Love is Like a Red Red Rose
to find each page a virgin white
with no mention of Ye Banks and Braes
or Auld Lang Syne
no romance no humanity no witches or warlocks
no words
then
you might understand
my love
the emptiness of my life
without you
touché
Thank you
Pingback: if | anelephantcant
Those last lines…heartbreaking.
Lovely to see you back again, Bridgette.
Happy the words touched you.
Soulful, haunting, melancholy write – perfect for a sunless, chilly New York afternoon.
Thanks, Nancy, it is a wee bit desolate, isn’t it!
The gradual build up of a post-apocalypse scenario touching every aspect of life, so vividly and sensitively described – and then the sucker punch that broke my heart.
A truly powerful poem.
C’mon, Jenne, you must know there’s a sucker punch(line)!
Glad it worked for you.