A Topical Poem

What Kind of God?

The toy plane comes out of the blue
And zaps the tower as it would do
In comics or cartoon, but this is true.

A hundred storeys up, stick people
Wave little banners of forlorn humanity,
Already fatally diminished
To their gawping fellow-kind
Before the crumbling hell engulfs them.

It’s said the terrorists’ god,
Unfazed by death of innocents,
Will take his fanatics to unending bliss.
What kind of god is this?

Lesley Duncan

Two Poems in Scots from St John's readings

Thistles for my Dearie

He was the first to live I’d borne

he was my only laddie

the girls I liked them well enough

but he, he was my dearie

here’s heart’s ease for your ailing lung

here’s flax-weed for safe passage

He sprouted like a sapling, strong

his body lean and leery

for he could hunt and he could run

so fleet, so quick, my dearie

here’s barley for your aching bones

here’s hawthorn for your splinter

The redcoats came when he was grown

and wooed him with their shilling

I blessed him with a grudging tongue

for he was young and willing

here’s dove’s foot for your belly’s worms

here’s primrose for your darkness

In desert lands he rose and shone

an ear of corn, my laddie

a stalk of corn they scythed him down

beside the road, my dearie

here’s ivy for your callow luck

here’s roses for your choler

And now my laddie’s dead and gone

no more to run beside me

in desert lands he lies alone

and I’ve grown old and weary

here’s poppies for your watchful night

here’s thistles for my dearie

Patricia Ace (2010) First published in The Rialto

*

Ye Dinna Ken

Ye dinna ken wha ye walk amangst.

Ye canna judge them by whit they say.

Ye micht no hear their malicious tongues.

Ye canna see sowels¹ by nicht or day.

They can shack yer haun, say How are ye?

It’s meant tae say they’re a braw-like bunch

yet ye canna check or test whit’s true.

Ye dinna ken wha ye walk amangst.

They micht bide a while; meet yir mither,

but for a’ ye ken they’ll soon betray,

words spoken intimately to ane anither.

Ye canna judge them by whit they say.

Ye cud share dreams; hae a guid crack,

but they’ll ne’er gie the slightest nudge

on how they’ll act if the chips are stacked.

Ye micht no hear their malicious tongues.

An’ I hope ye ne’er hae tae discover,

fir ye’ll only ken in war or tragedy -

Wha is true and wha will run fir cover.

Ye canna see sowels by nicht or day.

But I’d bet ye noo - the ane ye least expect,

wud staun up first - ne’r flinch nor flee,

dumfoond thaimsel alang wi you, an’ fecht

tae be the best a human being can be, but

ye dinna ken.

1. Sowel, Soul

Hazel Buchan Cameron

(photographs by Mike Knowles)

'Roses in December' by Freda Stobo

The Golden Thread Of Poetry held six readings in St John's Church Hall during the Festival. Who could have imagined, in the midst of a busy café, that poetry readings would actually be heard above the buzz of activity? In fact, the choice of venue proved to be a great success, because there was a lovely ambience in the café. It felt very civilised to be there, cup of tea in hand, listening to original poetry and song, from people who were gifting their talents for free. How privileged was that?

As soon as each reader began, the silence was awesome. You could have heard the proverbial pin drop. At this point, I should also mention that, on several of the days, we were fortunate to be serenaded by a gifted young man -Toby Mottershead – singer, songwriter, musician - who sang from the heart. I love the timbre of his voice, the integrity of his music, his phrasing and his own ‘way with words’. How clever to combine all three talents! I felt a great surge of excitement to think that such wonderful poetry and song was happening right in the heart of the city, in the market-place, as it were... poetry and song, for the people… in a kitchen! How fabulous was that?

In sharing their original poems, we experienced the passion each poet felt for the succinct use of words and the appropriateness of words. We tuned in to the pace and rhythm of their own individuality. We heard the all-important silences punctuating the ebb and flow of their songs. The inner-voices which inspired them to write, were now, in turn, tugging at our heart-strings. Wonderful lyrical poems on the beauty of nature; acute observations on travelling to places of interest; passionate feelings on personal faith; heart-felt memories - forever seered in the mind - of never-to-be-forgotten loved-ones; all this as we listened to the sound and intonation of the beauty of their own individual voices, their own accents, the out-pouring of their hearts.

It was a great privilege to hear such a variety of contemporary poetry and songs, much of which resonated with my own experience of life. We were afforded glimpses into the rich tapestry of each poet’s life and their cornucopia of delights brought music to our ears. After my purchases from the Cornerstone Bookshop, my winter evenings will be enriched as I read for myself many of the poems I heard, thus bringing me ‘Roses in December.’

My heart-felt thanks to all the poets, especially Tessa, who organised the readings. I felt it would be unfair to name individuals in case I missed someone out. But, I hope each poet will recognise themselves and their work from my description of the content of the poetry.

Lastly, those who braved the stormy winds and rain to come to Rosslyn Chapel on Sunday 28 August, to hear the last two poetry readings, were not disappointed. The Service was meditative, with spells of quiet contemplation. I found the whole experience a breath of fresh air, very freeing, very uplifting to the mind and heart and soul. Candle-lit, in a beauteous setting, with music played on a clarsach, Tessa and Jila read poems interspersed by short periods of silence. The theme was angels, as in the sense of mediators. Profound thought, simplicity of truth and beauty, where brevity was all. I came away with feelings of calmness and an inner peace, which I rarely experience after being in church. The poetry read was a true transport of delight.

Freda Stobo

Poems and Angels by Tessa Ransford

Poems & Angels

ISBN 9780955289668

£5.00

These twenty-four poems represent Tessa Ransford’s latest publication in pamphlet form. The idea for this selection, published under her wisdomfield imprint and typeset by Textualities, grew out of conversations between the poet and the visual artist Jila Peacock and their shared interest in the idea of angels, and has been specially produced for a reading at Rosslyn Chapel in August 2011.

In this selection, the angelic is not necessarily understood in terms of the heavenly realm where ‘pure contingent spirits’ are traditionally represented as playing harps and singing hosannas… Indeed, for the greater part, the angelic is as much an aspect of this worldly realm as of the heavenly – though there is no strict demarcation – and sometimes it is expressed only implicitly. For Ransford, the angelic message can just as readily manifest itself in the wonder of cowrie shells once collected by a grandson on the beach at North Berwick, in the awful beauty of the ‘lightest snow’ that falls over Tintern Abbey, in Scottish autumn sunlight that transforms wet leaves to silver and dry leaves to gold, as it can in the icons of the Russian Orthodox tradition, in the minaret where flames the ‘one true thought’, and in the quivering and quaking reeds that miraculously withstand the force of desert storms.

This most attractively made pamphlet comes with its own band of angels in the form of Jila Peacock’s ‘heads’ that adorn the front and back covers. These heads have a timeless quality, and like angels are only partly scrutable. They are suggestive of ancient Ethiopian cave paintings, but can just as easily be read as examples of modern hieroglyphs – the ‘emoticon’ that some attach to txt msgs.

Michael Lister

First Reading at St John's 2011

The first Golden Thread reading took place yesterday in the church hall of St John's, on the corner of Princes Street and Lothian Road, Edinburgh. This is the first time we have read in the hall and we were not sure how it was going to work, for during the Festival the hall also serves as a café. Were the readers going to be competing with the sounds of clinking cutlery and cups rattling in saucers? It turned out that the audience were wonderful. They bought teas and coffees before the reading began, they listened intently, and you could have heard a pin drop. Only once, there was the sound of a plate being dropped onto another one, in the kitchen.

Tessa Ransford, Willie Hershaw and Walter Perrie read from their new collections. Their books, and those of all the Golden Thread poets reading this year, can be found in the Cornerstone Bookshop, just underneath St John's.

The next reading will be on 11th August at 2 pm. Full details of all the readings, which go on throughout the festival, can be found in the previous post

Details of Readings at St John's Church, Edinburgh, August 2011

The Golden Thread of Poetry August 2011

The hall/café St John's Church west end of Princes Street Edinburgh

All readings begin at 2 pm

Tessa Ransford will read some poems and introduce golden thread poets each afternoon, all from Scotland beyond Edinburgh. We offer an hour of beauty that is truth and truth that is also beauty. We will be joined by singer-songwriter Toby Mottershead of Black Diamond Express

Enjoy artistic integrity and contemporary relevance, archetypal and topical. Our books are for sale in the Cornerstone Bookshop below the church. All are freely welcome.

Donations welcome

Tuesday 9th August

Walter Perrie and Willie Hershaw: they will together launch lyrics and poems on nature, culture and religion from their collaborative new publications by Fras

Thursday 11^th August

Morelle Smith: her poetry addresses the inner and outer journey

Alexander Hutchison: revisiting Inchcolm and other 'dear-known sites'

(as David Jones called them)

Lesley Harrison: her poems explore remote lonely landscapes and ways of living in them

Tuesday 16^th August

Morgan Downie: original and evocative island and seascape poems

Rosie Alexander: a young poet living in Orkney with a gentle and intelligent talent

Nalini Paul: her new book Slokt by Sea reaps a rich harvest from her year in Orkney

Thursday 18^th August

Lesley Duncan: her poems take in acute observations on Scottish history,

local Stirling themes including 'Leonardo Ponders Scotland'!

Anne Murray: her well-made poems include sonnets from travels in the Holy Land

Tuesday 23^rd August

Tessa Ransford

Iyad Hayatleh

We have been working together on poems inspired by the Five Pillars of Islam, translating each other's poems. The resulting book is entitled A Rug of a Thousand Colours

Thursday 25^th August

Hazel Buchan Cameron: a Scottish voice, modern, feisty and full of surprises

Dawn Wood: a poet-scientist, a persuasive and highly distinctive talent

Patricia Ace: poems on family relationships and nature from Crieff-based yoga teacher and writer

We are grateful to our personal sponsor

Two Quintas for the summer solstice, Hungary and Bulgaria

Elizabeth Empress of Austria, was married to the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph. Too much of a private person to enjoy court life she stayed away as much as possible. She had a fondness for Hungary and spoke the language fluently. She was influential in the re-establishment of the Hungarian constitution which led to the Austrian Empire becoming the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary. Clearly her feelings for the Hungarian people were reciprocated, as an area in Budapest, Erzsebetvaros [Elizabethville], part of the old Jewish quarter, has been named after her.

20/6/11 - Budapest

The streets in Erzsebetvaros

have a familiar echo -

monochrome dipped in fierce sunlight -

footsteps, a songbird -

all feels like home

21/6/11 - Neseber, Bulgaria

it gets dark so quickly -

the sun plunges to its next assignment

where it has a pact today

with a meridian, before it shifts its angle,

and begins to turn away