Haunted, by a recurring memory,
Suffocating, where gladioli grow,
Gaunt, with grief, heart stilled, ever passionless,
Those dream-filled nights, devoid of charity,
Make of slumber a fierce, eternal foe,
With you, my love, a bride of bitterness.
Thus, spectral songs echo after last light,
Where hurtful remembrance always occurs,
Oft musing on the mourner’s useless tears,
Regardless of his tragic loss, his plight –
Hungering to end an enduring curse;
Here, sorrow may make skeletons of years.
You, ensheathed within that cassock of clay,
I, fleshing the ebbtide of yesterday.
© Sam Gilliland.
Residing in Scotland, Sam Gilliland is a champion of Lallans (the Scottish language) poetry and a recipient of Sangschaw’s prestigious MacDiarmid Tassie. With three previous collections of poetry published his work in Scots includes A Rickle O Banes (Penny Wheep Press). Founder/Secretary of Ayrshire Writers & Artists Society the organisation became the home of The Scottish International Open Poetry Competition, to which he devoted twenty eight years of his life as co-administrator and judge.
Very powerful poem – haunting too in its evocations. Marvellous work.
James, I already know of your powerful influence upon contemporary poetry, and delighted that you are continuing a path we both seem to have tread upon. Aye & aye, Sam.
You are, Mr Gilliland, a poet with a unique voice and style, a master of unobtrusive yet compelling metre and rhyme. Yet again you have given us another gem.
Leo, I suspect you, too, are a poet of imagination and refined taste. Aye & aye, Sam.
What powerful imagery! Great job!
Thank you, Ram. May you continue with your own work uppermost in mind. Aye & aye, Sam.
Heart rending and potent. A great poem.
Thank you Ram. Comment greatly appreciated. Aye & aye, Sam.
David, I am delighted that my poem gave you joy, which, frankly, is the one real reason one strives for in our elegant art. Aye & aye, Sam.
David, I thank you and wish you a prosperous and literary Xmas as well as a delightful New Year! Aye & aye, Sam.