
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