Alba

 

Wrapped in sky and heathered hills

caressed by briny horses wild,

so far from dark satanic mills

survives the empire's favoured child.

 

Once stripped and starved of tongue and god

its people slaved and banished cold,

crofts and mànas razed to sod

that none who dwelled there might grow old.

 

But land in time calls back its own

disgorging tyrants, killing kings,

and those returning hold what's known

that those who stole could never bring.

 

This place so loved by earth and man

too much that any heart could own,

will never bow to scheme or plan

that was not on its own shores grown.

 

Audio & Video available at link below

https://wolfgarwords.com/2024/11/27/alba/

🌷(6)

◄ Absolution

Mothers of Sons (Twenty years wasted to abandonment) ►

Comments

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David RL Moore

Fri 29th Nov 2024 18:07

Thanks to John and Stephen for the likes.

Ray, the word mànas is taken to mean farm buildings including houses and out houses in Scots Gaelic.

Thanks for your reading comment and enquiry.

David

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Ray Miller

Fri 29th Nov 2024 13:13

Enjoyed the read. I like "briny horses wild" and the 3rd stanza is very good. . What is a manas?

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David RL Moore

Thu 28th Nov 2024 11:45

Thankyou Tobani.

David

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David RL Moore

Thu 28th Nov 2024 07:45

Thanks for the likes RBK and Uilleam.

Here I am again romanticizing the old country. It's a dodgy path to walk, between the idea of things and the reality of them.

That said, this poem started out in praise of the land and somehow morphed into historic grievance. This is something I'm wary of. I believe we should remember our past and hold it somehow sacred, but that we should also look to the future with open minds, free of blame.

David

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