Poetry in Portree

We recently held a poetry workshop at Portree Community Library, led by Maoilios Caimbeul.

 

Following a lively discussion about poetry, the group wrote this renga.  Renga is a form of collaborative poetry made up of two or more stanzas.

 

Skye Renga

 

sun rain wind mist

snap-happy Storr

in a traffic jam

 

the old man bends

in a kneeling of prayer

 

an unexpected moonrise

as a Dutch tourist

is surprised about their business

 

shining lady surfacing through the sky

greeting the foreigner coming to pay her respects

 

the airy light above

and solid rock below

unison of heaven and earth

 

the night’s wounds are silenced

as the new day shrouds the land

 

lovers twist and turn

spiralled jigs rhythmically

announce the coming seasons

 

islands seen from far love where they are

cradled by the shore

 

cast adrift in an ocean

fragmented by the red and gold

of autumn’s rain

 

I turned her trip from bright to dreich

keeps me awake with basalt guilt

 

glowing headlands attract the eye

luring her back with promise

of nature’s golden mantle

 

so fragile as darkness beckons forth

in the Atlantic storm

 

blazing slanted sleet shattered

Bodach stands unflinching

tourists gaze in wonder

 

aurora borealis sunrise

the amber and the green combine

 

stalking the horizon

dropping prayer flags of colour

between the hills

 

well met by moonlight

apologies flow like a waterfall after a squall

 

mystery of Celtic gods

encloses and enraptures

speaks of ages past

 

echoes of battles lost and won

three witches embrace what’s done

 

Cailleach warms the earth

revealing buds

and drops of snow

 

the renewed landscape

heralds the traveller again

 

Composed on 12.7.2017 by:

Allen, Dave

Caimbeul, Maoilios

Hardy, Susan

Mitchell, Francis

Murray, Scott

Royle, Jo

Vermeijden, Chris.