Sally's Scottish Poetry Blog begins....

The beginning is always the hard part. Why blog?

I suppose I want to tell you - my English friends and others -  about north-east Scotland.

A few months ago I had no idea that this place was so full of riches: fertile land, natural beauty, the sort of light and changing skies that bring artists flocking; cheerful and confident people and of course, history. The terrible history of the Highland clearances, of lost communities and the end of the main livelihood of this area - fishing.

But people have adapted - as they always do - and new industries and communities have grown up here with a mood of optimism and good humour.

Poetry will loom large in this blog - you have been warned. Perhaps you will look away now and never come back but that can't be helped...

(I won't include complete poems by living poets as they deserve to maintain their copyright.  I publish extracts that might inspire you to seek them out.)

Kathleen Jamie goes first:

The Creel

Kathleen Jamie (b. 1962) 

(extract)

The world began with a woman,

shawl-happed, stooped under a creel,

whose slow step you recognize

from troubled dreams. You feel

obliged to help bear her burden

from hill or kelp-strewn shore,

........

creel: wicker basket for carrying fish, peat, etc on the back

thirled: enslaved

This poem is worth looking for (it gets more cheerful) and it is both a creation myth and a reminder that we are not as  important as we think we are and that the world will turn without us.  I've decided that hedonism is the way to go now that I am (slightly) older.

Something more colourful to end with...a view of part of my village.  

Seatown, Gardenstown.

Tourism is a major industry for this area and the village comes alive in the summer with visitors from all over the world. The internet has made so many new things possible here. Even Amazon delivers!! Not nearly as remote as you might think.