Hey, Hey Suilven Blues
HEY, HEY, SUILVEN BLUES
I was Canada, Greenland, Norway
but I had to split.
Nothing but a crusty dude -
Had to give m' self a make-over.
I was hot, man. I mean HOT.
But I'm cool now.
Just call me Mister Gneiss Guy
in my crazy stripey coat.
Once I strode the land
but I'm gettin old.
Half the age of the universe
and then some.
I like to stand, my plaid
flung across my shoulder
and chew on the fat. Guess
I'm a bit of a land-mark round here.
But I aint beat yet.
The Big Tease, that's me.
Now you see me; now you don't.
To your left, then to your right,
And when I've got you thoroughly
discombobulated: Whoo, Hoo!
I spook you on the Oykel Road
just when you least expected.
Some days, I get the hump,
stomp off into the blue,
or don't tell no one I'm home.
Just draw down the blind.
They call me many names:
Shape-shifter, Shaman.
Call me what you like,
I'm watchin' you.
( Note: Suilven may be Norse for 'pillar' or it may be Gaelic for 'Eye Mountain'. The jury's still out.)
This poem was a runner-up in the John Muir Trust Poetry Competition launched at the Fort William Mountain Festival, 2008.