Poems / Poetry

Auld clinker hull and mast
And sail-spar frae the past
Anchor near the beach
Yards awa' frae slipway reach.
Shreds o' shroud and strands o' net
Cling reverently yet
Tae fragments o' forestay at the bow.
Her workin' keel back-broken now. Read more......

Storm beach of Hirta
Black houses of Village Bay
Thro' still photographs
Fancies fly away Read more......

May Christmas-time be white
Snowflakes falling thro' the night
May tinsel - mistletoe - Christmas trees
Join in harmony to please Read more......

Lovely wooden hull
Guided by rope power
Stripped of her tall masts
In her sunset hour
Bowing to the river mouths
No more for her the sea
Derigged on an in-coming tide
To Discovery Quay Read more......

A seagull - fancy free
Requested directions to the sea
To see what he'd never seen before
Perhaps travel to a sandy shore

 Read more......

Frae Panmure Street tae Tally Street
On Sunday's efter tea
Teenagers walked backwards and forwards
Thro' the centre o' Dundee
On only ae side o' the street - in procession
Headin' for a musical 'session' Read more......

Standinn' in a lang queue
Tae see the double-bill
Ootside the Plaza
On the middle o' the Hull
Some frae Norrie's Pend
Ann Street - Coldside
Winchin' couples haudin' hands
Waitin' tae get inside Read more......

Wha remembers the City Arcade
Underneath Caird Hall
Buyin' onythin' frae a half-loaf
Tae a bouncing rubber ball Read more......

Land o' Cakes whaur pies were born
Nae true Dundonian dare wad scorn
A dinner '' Wallace's juicy pies
Mooth-waterin' sicht afore oor eyes
Succulent mince - a joy tae savour
Nae ither dinner has sic' flavour
Bairns love them - dads an' mums
Grannies - grandads an' their chums
Enjoy pies, tatties an' warmed baked beans
A royal dish tae serve yer freens

Silently echoing thro' Verdant Works
O'er granite and flint cassies
Hooves clatterin' - cairtwheels rattlin'
As lads eyeup the lassies
In the eighteen-hundreds
Workers wrought a twelve-hoor shift
And wove textile heritage
Wi' toil and thrift Read more......