Autumn

As the wind blows east
from distant climes
a hint of warmth
brings summer's end

The clouds now build
for the autumn's strife
between cold and warm
as the sun sinks south

With the equinox gone
leaves are turning
berries throng the trees
and birds heading south

Colour will soon fade
leaving just brown
yellow and black
as winter looms

National Poetry Day 2017

Dalmore



From the endless sea
a wave rolls in
like a drawn-out sigh
runs out onto the beach

The endless sky
of northern blue
with tufts of white
marches overhead

The sun yet low
over the darkened hill
brown green
yellow winter hue

Beyond the sea
in distant lands
beyond our knowledge
we may not venture

Its markers loom
in the sandy soil
where the memories fade
in illegible lines

We remember you
even if we never knew
so you'll forever live
on Dalmore beach

Langadale

Where eagles fly
and white hares run
the mice quiver
under fleeting winds

Rapaire juts out
under Stulabhal's bluff
where the path threads
up the mountain slope

Oft my feet
have waded the river
where it meanders
under Mullach's slopes

Crowned in cloud
the mountains rear
under northern sun
in Langadale



Mealista

Nearing the end of the road
when the tarmac has ceased
the going gets tough
the ground only more rough
 
We think of you now
as sleep overtakes wakening
to not feel the pain
to not have to think
 
The road nears its end
but the light beyond it
grows brighter
in distant Tir nan Og
 
Where the nunnery stood
looking south down the narrows
past the abandoned isle
to the hamlet
 
At the end of another road
or maybe a new beginning
past the point of
our cognisance
 
Where the slipway lies
is the end of the road
into the sea
to Tir nan Og