Inspired by Knockan
Acrylics by Rachel Metcalfe
KNOCKAN
Cloud-shrouded and scree'd
shaft of tourquoise Loch na Keal
over my shoulder
Down Ben More and home
to red-roof Knockan and blood;
My lad's tooth is out.
Iona jetty,
blue above, below and through
the thrown pottery
Craignure crossing, light-
house and cumulus, foam-white,
tilting to Oban
Steve Bird 2010
YOU WONDER WHY…
When the human mind is freed
From day to day pursuit of busyness
Schedule, time and plan.
When horizons are not bounded
By brick and stone construct,
Or paving slab and concrete floor.
When the air is filled
By heavy ozone and iodine-rich weed
Not petroleum fumes and humanity’s fear of failure.
Where the rhythm of the day is dictated by single tracks
And traffic jams are bovine – a new definition!
Where the hardest decision is tea or coffee in the flask
And where to drink the same,
The night’s lullaby is the rising tide,
The wind’s gentlest kiss,
Not the roar of traffic -
Of those who toil while others rest.
Where the wisdom of the old ones
Seeps soul deep to cleanse and energise.
Then is the eye, the heart, the mind
Freed to roam, to disengage, to explore
To follow the soaring eagle’s flight
And find new expression;
To see beyond the everyday horizon
And realise the more.
To imagine, relax and rehabilitate
The creativity within each one,
Then to record the same –
Through pen or camera eye,
Paint, crayon and simple being
That in the midst of life
We may recapture something
Of what we were created to be.
Una MacLean 260410
A languid lift of flight feathers,
Silent descent
And a landing that barely ruffles the water.
Only the head feathers lifting in the breeze
Focus attention
On the ghostly presence
Half caught in the corner of the eye.
Still was a marble etched statue,
A modern portrayal
Of an ancient form.
Then, like lightning,
A dip, a flash, a flick,
Lunch is served
Again, again, again,
Until replete.
The water rises,
The sun curves across the sky,
Then, with a single graceful bounce,
And languid, liquid, flowing movement,
The heron cuts through the evening air
Homeward bound.
Una McLean 052016.
Autumnal Knockan.
Wrapped in the finest lacy shawl,
filigree threads in intricate patterning
enfold and wrap, yet float freely
moved by the currents of air -
secure now, yet in anticipation
of what follows, what is yet to come -
time suspended, held betwixt and between
the rise and fall of the tide the only measure -
even the sounds, so familiar, are muffled,
wave against rock, wading bird, small songstress -
the wind plucks the telegraph wire
an eerie, solitary strumming -
a tune calling to hibernation -
to lit fires, hot meals, mugs held in chilled hands -
and all around the filigree, fine threads
connect and pattern, layer by layer,
weaving new tales for the autumnal fireside.
Una McLean 01.11.2017.
A stealth tide:
Blending into the rocks,
Grey and black, silver backed,
Basking in the wintry sun,
Breeze blown, belly filled
By the fish shoals disturbed by the angry weather.
Waiting, wallowing, rolling flipper high.
And the tide rises
A stealthy creeping,
No fuss, no bother, no crashing waves,
The water touches, recedes and nudges again.
They wait - fully aware of no need to move.
The oily brown, blue, been,
Greedily grasps the rocks,
Its seaweed skirts furling and lifting.
Until, effortlessly newly afloat
The diving begins again,
The chase for dinner in underwater acrobatics,
Until filled bellies seek repose once more.
Una McLean 20.04.2018
Quick Eye, Slow Eye:
The quick eye in each one of us
sees the motion, the movement,
the flick of activity.
While the slow eye in us spots the detail, the focus and form,
conjures up the story, the history,
the reality of what is seen perceived.
The quick eye sees
tarmac flying beneath the wheels,
bends and straights ahead,
marks the passing place, other vehicles.
While the slow eye recognises the roe deer
stepping delicately out from greenery
with frozen, startled stare to pause and look
before moving off again, traverse completed.
The quick eye takes in the surroundings,
road, scenery, glowering rock face,
muddy ditch, scattered stone.
The slow eye sees the moult,
the eagles who delight with thermal floating personal flight display,
the sudden silver tresses in the rugged face,
as the elixir of life rushes down,
white, silvern lines, to feed loch, river and tap.
The quick eyes sees lichen covered rocks,
land locked,
sometimes seaweed bound and sea swept.
The slow eye picks out
formed stone of fallen croft or quay,
tumbled carelessly,
and the mind conjures the small boat
ferrying supplies
or a piscean supper for hungry mouths.
The quick eye sees a flick of gold, of brown and brightest red.
The slow eye sees a goldfinch feeding,
a solitary heron, a feisty wren,
oyster catcher and bold breasted robin.
The quick eye sees endless roadway
bending round the towering hills,
stretching far onto the horizon.
The slow eye marks history in the original trail
almost hidden off road,
bridges remaining to mark the crossings
walked by hundreds of thousands of feet and hooves
of drovers and their stock.
The quick eye marks the speed of today, the present.
The slow eye the realities, nuance and inheritance of what once was,
and the hope of what is to come.
©UnaMcLean 052022