Poem of the week : Shawbost

Shawbost

Give me the soft white sands and tiny shells of home,
arms, like an anchor around me.
And the sound of children playing in rock pools
at my back.
If you will not give me that;
give me a howling gale.
The kind that shrieks
and screams in your ears
that frightens birds
and flattens trees.
let me meet it:
teeth on.
Let it lift these flimsy thoughts from my mind,
tear asunder these feeble dreams
and take me, from this scree-clad hillside
across the mighty, heaving, grey-green ocean
through rain that comes at you sideways
and stings and slashes the skin
until I am back,
once more, in Shawbost
standing on that grassy cliff top
beside the hole in the sea
with its awesome, pounding roar
that takes hold of your ears and your heart
and, like love,
fills you with fear and draws you close.

Katharine MacFarlane is an award-winning Skye-based poet, writer, workshop facilitator and ex-Children and Young People’s Librarian whose lyrical poetry is rooted in the history, landscape and folklore of Scotland. 2020’s Scottish Slam Champion, Katharine’s new collection Home Words is out now.