Only the rowan remains

Only the rowan remains
beside the ruined walls
the gable end
the broken roof

Only the rowan remains
where empty windows
look out towards
the setting sun

Only the rowan remains
where happiness once ruled
stepping through the door
which has long since disappeared

Only the rowan remains
remembering the joys of new life
excited children's voices
swinging from its branches

Only the rowan remains
when sadness came to call
seeing them off on distant journeys
or on that final journey of them all

Only the rowan remains
beside many a ruined homestead
the holder of its memories
the keeper of its charms

Only the rowan remains
under sun, rain or wind
forever looking up the road
forlornly awaiting their return

Only the rowan remains
the watcher of many places
but not knowing
that they will never return

To that place by loch. hill or moor
From whence they set forth once
to other places near and far
for only the rowan to remain

Cianalas

The whistle blows
the chorus reaches a crescendo
The steamer slowly backs
away from the quay

Faces quickly lost from sight
on the quay to those aboard
on board to those ashore
The last farewell's been said

As the town disappears from sight
Some will not see it again
A thought at the back
of the mind of all

Even longer ago
Departing hardly voluntarily
Forced by hands of gold
to abandon the land of heather

The certainty was even greater
As were the distances
for deportation
after the clearance

But whether for war
for compulsion
or to seek a better life
The yearning back remains

Dodging the torpedo of the enemy
Espying the shoreline of a distant land
or the smoking stacks of cities
The image remains alive

So when victory is sounded
And the opportunity appears
for the journey back northwest
To once more greet what's home

The old harbour
The empty moorland
The hills rising behind the croft
You're home

Arnol

Empty windows look out on the yellowed grass
Panes blown out in a forgotten gale
Tiles disappearing from the roof
But no one is caring

The ocean thunders onto distant cliffs
A moving wreath around the western coast
An army of white riders incessantly
assail the crumbling fortress that is shore

Sagging poles carry rusting wire
No longer delineating the patch
of infertile, poor, unsustaining ground
where once cattle and sheep grazed

The door has gone, a void beyond
Another frame behind, also unshuttered
Countless rocks from the empire of
sonte, yet choked with rocks the ground remains

Walls stand up, bewildered now that
the roof has vanished, perhaps
a beam remains, collapsed into
the ruin below

A squall blows in, the scene darkens
no shelter here, in the old dwelling
an echo of years gone by
left as an in memoriam

Fled the yoke of the man in the castle
his cruel minions who cared not
to improve the lives of those
he was in charge of caring for

A distant gun echoes, multiplying the life it took
by countless millions, including
those who answered the call
from the humble abodes out here

Now crumbling slowly, remembering
the golden days of long sunshine and warmth
laughter, singing, merry-making
love, kinship and bonds

Some crossed the seas for better lives
Never to return to the humble home
Looking down to the shoreline below
Remembering all who departed