Mourning in Arduaine – published in New Writing Scotland 29

A cool mercury light,
Water pulling sky to sea,
That soft grey sympathy
Of water and stone.

Shuna, small and jagged,
Echoed, with variations,
By Luing.
Seil a faint fond shadow
Embracing them both.

Each made of the same stone
And not quite fitting
Like broken jigsaw pieces
Like family.

Each an island
Holding to itself
But part of an archipelago.

Even when the rain
Tears you from the horizon
I know you are there:
I can feel the shape of your shores
Through the currents that reach mine.

About Pedalling Poetry

Writer Ellen McAteer is founder of Tell It Slant poetry bookshop in Glasgow, and Publishing Manager for the Poetry Translation Centre. She was General Manager at Poetry London magazine, a visiting lecturer at the Glasgow School of Art, and a mentee of the Clydebuilt Verse Apprenticeship Scheme, under Alexander Hutchison, as well as a singer with the band Stone Tape and a solo singer who won a BBC Radio competition with her song Blue Valentine. She was Director of the Poetry Trust, which ran the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival, a director of the Scottish Writers’ Centre, a visiting lecturer at Oxford University's MSt in creative writing, and a member of the core group of performers at the Hammer and Tongue spoken word collective in Oxford. She is a qualified Librarian.
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4 Responses to Mourning in Arduaine – published in New Writing Scotland 29

  1. I love this poem! xxx

  2. Pingback: Ik ben een jonge Schotse dichter! | Ellen McAteer

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