Scottish Holidays <br /> <br />The Farmer and the Duke <br /> <br />“No firebrand on my land! ” said the duke, as a rebuke. <br />His tenant, unpenant, had fought the duke’s wrought: <br />the right to own the land he lives on. <br />The duke had plenty farmers who rented, so he relented. <br />The farmer and his wife realized the dream of their life. <br />They now own the land and the lovely old house, <br />with two hundred cattle and a wee mouse. <br />This he told us when we stopped to talk, on a Scottish evening walk. <br />Labrador Beth took us back to dinner, in Thornhill hotel, a real winner. <br />There is a moral to this story: <br />it pays to take a stand and fight <br />against what seems invincible might. <br />One ends up rewarded with glory! <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />The Cormorant <br /> <br />I had enough to eat <br />and love this seat <br />in the sun. <br />The wind on the face is fun. <br />No enemy in sight, <br />nothing to fight, <br />so don’t come too near <br />moving men I do fear! <br />I am totally free <br />to fly over the sea <br />but I like to sit here <br />where the rock pool is clear. <br />I love to watch the moving sky <br />While the day is dry, <br />See the glitters in the sea, <br />The pebbles whetted by spree. <br />Do join and stay, <br />At a distance you may! <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Holy Island <br /> <br />From outside it looks like a crumb spilled in the sea <br />with just about place for a bee, or two or three. <br />Once inside it is the still center of space <br />where one can see one’s face <br />in the fruitful earth <br />and the crystal clear firth; <br />in the garden where man and finch find food; <br />in the land where life is good; <br />in the sky where cloud plays with gull; <br />in the whole play, where nothing is dull. <br /> <br />(April 2009)<br /><br />Nereva Notswa<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/scottish-holidays/
