Am Fuadach Gaidheal

We sleepwalk the bridge across the BroraWhere you youngfolk scream at us,“Am Fuadach Gaidheal,” [1]And you’re quite right to do so. We take flight heronlike to Gleann Slaodach [2]To sit in silence in the roofless ruinsA hearthstone cold as cunningBrùidealachd the haunt that wounds us. [3] Cleared of the Gaidheal for the big white sheepWe … Read more

Constant

always constantnot infrequentlynot occasionally constant as weathernot moodlessall changes living breathingnot dyingnot sameness constantyou not meyet us throughout the ages holding on constantlyto each otherfalling and falling coming up for air inside crashing wavesconstant together we are one and alikewe humans swimmingwith a constant tide

For the Fair Colleen

Across the moorlandflowing with bog cottonas white as snow,a wee black hooseempty topples,the spinning wheelhas froze and rustand crottle grows the chairwhere mammy, who nursedthe fair colleen,lies unforgotton. The scream: “níl aon ní úr faoin spéirach leis imeacht aimsirefearr is agamsa atá a fhiosthafearr is agamsa atá a fhios agus an bhuil a fhios agat … Read more

Gentlemen of the Rivers

The Gentleman of the River has passed beyond the brackish waterin to the great green-bluing unknown heavenly depthsbeyond the sand banks of knowing and yon glistening rocks of faithwhere the wild north sea of baying sea horses and moon-swellcry like a banshee to the fishers’ wrecks The Voice calls “walk upon the water of life”“be … Read more

Haunted being recorded

Almost 20 years after penning it, Haunted is finally being recorded.  Produced in Oban by Finlay Wells, this song coming to life on record is a milestone.  Monument (about the Sutherland Clearances) is also nearing completion.  This song is inspired by the Clearances Statue in Helmsdale.

Vibrate Vapor Omnia

They say we are banal Lacking in passion For togetherness Or some sort of Apartheid; But it has been too long Since the bluntest axe Hacked the widow’s tree And the cries of the ravens Drowned-out the singing bairns Who still sing Sentimentally Beneath the waves of romance For a fairy tale nation That cannot … Read more

Grasping the Thistle

I guess we’re growing old like thistles in the drought- parched park we all die slow in summer; Our seeds have blown away as shadows slowly fall to cover up the cracks of crippled lovers. We leave nothing more than dust the carvings of a stone that michaelang’lo smoothed with sweat and a chisel; For … Read more

Wee Meanderings

Released today and available in all exceptional bookshops. Kindle version on sale later this week. A first Collection of very short stories, essays and polemics; fictional and occasionally philosophical; an attempt to capture that most elusive of butterflies – the Highland Geist.

Long Goodbye

  Well, I think I need a miracle I think I need a miracle Cos you’re looking for the wings of a butterfly So you can die But I guess that life Is a long goodbye