By Robin Robertson
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Robin Robertson
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Posted By Robin Robertson on Tuesday 13th Apr 2010
'At Roane Head', from The Wrecking Light, is the second in a series of narrative poems I've been writing over the past year - all of them set in fictional Scottish locations. They have some of the attributes of folk tales, and some of folklore's familiar, cheery themes: murder, rape, revenge, madness, physical deformity, witchcraft and the supernatural.
Monday 6th Jun 2011 07:42
On Roane Head
Beglamoured as I was with Roane Head,
I gave a copy to my daughter.
Adding notes to aid with quicken, hirpling and smoor;
a resume of selkies,
and a small photo of a cormorant en croix.
I knew she'd love it as I did:
that timeless place of mystery and myth,
the perfect story of life and death,
love and loss, suffering and vengeance;
yet only 60 lines
from it's cinematic opening
through an embered hearth of darkness
to the final twist.
Next day I saw the stapled sheets uncreased
and asked if she had tried it.
'No, ...not yet' she said,
feigning forgetfulness.
Later she did read it
dutifully,
while watching a recorded X-Factor
for the second time.
And said nothing.
I thought she'd love it as I did:
instantly, completely.
And now I ask myself:
Did I do this?
Thursday 24th Feb 2011 09:36
I have been "beglamoured" by this poem. The imagery is so strong and the emotion engendered is overpowering. The simplicity of the language is beautiful. I want to paint this poem. I am off to buy all Robertson'spoems.