SKYARTUK

Finnieston Mornen

So we drunk the night down
downed the right essence o' summers
gone an' then the Oban was no more
so theory unravelled as the night
an' the argument the substance
o' days better men had won for us went

driften down the Clyde like a tide turned
back on a spate from the dead heartlands
o' Scotlan,
from the south Rotunda tae Finnieston
quayside the polished tarmac river
just waited stood still as the 4 X 4s
networked in the car park, cafe lattes
plastic cups left on tincan mock mooring posts
designer empties label their onetime owners
alongwith the dumped thai takeaway
the gulls are squabblen over
on the causies under the unmoved crane
unnoticed theres one fresh run silver
darlen sea trout lowpen clear
an careless in the first light
driven on upriver leaven me tae the soft
everpresent rush o' traffic oe'r the Kingston.

Overcast

Sumptuous sky of smoke and shadow;
a tapestry of cold coffee and black velvet.
The glow of milky moon on emerald ocean;
a whisper of fire on flawless water.

the bay

sitting on the shore
with the beautiful
wishes of sheltered time
          2am surf glitter eyes
          letting go the rock
          laughing, splashing to land
but currents run hard
in Spring tide

who's to tell the in's and out's,
the double take at the
crack in the pebble
that for a moment
looked like a smile,
a glance over the shoulder
and the beach is gone,
the horizon just a
line of your frown

once down the foggy harbour
I breathed deeply
for a long time
and shapes took slow form,
boats rising and falling
on the morning swell,
maybe if I hadn't been watching
the fog wouldn't have
lifted that day

'that'll be him then'
          an old mate
          defined himself,
          dropped anchor
          in the bay
so I'll take a punt
for old times sake,
drift like Boddidharma
among the empty tankers

I was out there
cranked 1600 horsepower,
blind to process,
riding the surf with
the slyness of transience
till I came upon
those 2am rocks and you,
eyes sparkling
like sheltered time

some nights I watch you
in the crumpled sheets
          mouth silent words
          illustrate
          the dark
wishing you were born
to sleep and no more,
like sheltered time
is all I can bear
don't know why I
sit on this midnight sand
          can't catch your eye
          or follow footprints
          in the dark
I watch the shadows
of the pitching ships,
the sea monogrammed with sadness,
restless as ever.

Tequila sunrise

The ivory glimmer
of shimmering silica,
a million grains
of finely ground stone
twinkling in the first light
of solar flame
arising at the horizon
brightening shades of silver grey
to a zenith of omnipresent azure
above the desiccated plain,
the ultraviolet rays impaling
the jagged leaves of blue agave
producing the creative juices
of villainy and infamy,
so dry and desirous
and notorious for lawlessness.