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hallaig
08-08-2011, 06:30 PM
Not Actually Being in Dumfries last Weekend


When I am walking up Queensberry St in low cloud
and tread on chips floating in an oily puddle,
I am actually on the Cierro Del Sol, staring through trees
at ponds like pearl, the roses and myrtle.

When I turn onto the High Street at seven o’clock at night
and neds are stoned out of their brains and jeering,
I am hearing the sound of nightingales in gardens
with the heat still singing and the sun setting on fire.

At midnight I am not leaving the Hole in the Wa,
fumbling my way through a huddle of strange dwarves,
but moving statuesquely through the lush blooms
of my imagination, heavy and sweet as jacaranda,

and the night will not end here, in light to heavy drizzle,
and a taxi that fines you a hundred quid for being sick,
it will not end here in damp sandstone and shadows
but surely with a last long kiss below an orange moon.

everyadventure
08-08-2011, 06:34 PM
I'm often elsewhere, myself. A poem of contrasts, and beautifully done.

Delta40
08-08-2011, 09:05 PM
Excellent contrast and so scottish!

Jack of Hearts
08-09-2011, 03:54 AM
Somewhat confusing to your American cousin. Hinders the reading a bit, but that's hardly your fault.

Other than that, a typical hallaig affair- typically good, that is.





J

hillwalker
08-09-2011, 05:49 AM
Love the contrasts you conjure up - living one reality but imagining another -a coping mechanism for so many.

H

Hawkman
08-10-2011, 03:01 AM
A fine poem. Good use of enjambment ;). The longing to be somewhere else, to be released from the mundane, is artfully expressed.

Live and be well - H