Recently I’ve had three different friends travel to Scotland. I think it’s a sign that I am meant to travel there. And, of course “Outlander” on Netflix is my current binge obsession. Mary Lee has been posting daily albums on Facebook of her travels. I chose this one, but they are all amazing. Can’t you just hear the bagpipes and feel the cool breeze?
Let’s travel today in our poems. Where would you like to go? Maybe a stay-cation is all you need. Close your eyes and dream. Please leave a poem in the comments and respond to other writers.
Mary Lee is writing daily cherita poems of one line, two lines, three lines that tell a complete story. So I chose the cherita form.
Scotland calls me
to hear the wind
roar across the seaand be a traveler
wondering isle to isle
seeking Skye.Margaret Simon, draft
Reflections on the Teche 
I wrote a cherita, also.
The contents of my bucket list
have all been checked
except one
to tread the edges of my roots
on rugged shores
of Scotland
by Donna JT Smith ©️2024
(the T stands for Thistle)
Beautiful, Margaret…I, too, have had several friends recently travel to Scotland. We dream of a trip.
Our last magnificent trip was a four week journey from one end of southern Utah to the other, and this is a shortened version of a poem I just drafted at Arches National Park:
WINDOW ARCH
The higher we climbed, the more the wind.
We sat and snuggled close, my hair blew wild.
The sun swelled, a photographer captured us,
imprinted a memory. If only we were more like rock,
ever-evolving, changing so slowly, but living longer,
snuggled close together, my hair wild in the wind.
Draft, Carol Coven Grannick
I am drawn in by the question of being more like rock. I also love the image of your hair blowing wild.
Carol,
The snuggled close, being more like rock, longer time, changes so subtle……oh to imagine living our lives with a perspective of hair just being wild in the wind. Your poem does resonate, the echoes of the canyon and life dreams. Lovely.
Thank you, Janet!
I like the image of your hair blowing in the wind and how you threaded it through your poem. Lovely!
How wonderful that most of your bucket list has been checked! I hope you’ll find a way to Scotland! I love “tread the edges of my roots”!
Oh I hope you get there some day!
Donna,
Do you have roots in Scotland? I visited once and we were in Edinburgh, up at Lanark and a little stop in Glasgow, then time to climb Arthur’s Seat nearby the university we were staying at. AND it was sunny and hot and dry the summer we were there. It was a People to People Student Ambassador tour and I was a leader. Loved all of that for the most part!!! Scotland was terrific but not the way of exploring our friend Mary Lee is up to!!! It would be a wonderful idea to return and take it slowly! I did buy a tie in the Dunbar clan tartan. I think I need to hurry up on my bucket list!!! I am way behind you. Glad you have checked off almost all on yours.
Am eagerly traveling to Molly Hogan’s 2nd grade for a short visit to a) meet Molly in person and 2) share some poems with her younguns’! Color me happy. Her school’s about an hour away and I am excited!!! I will try to return tonight with a poem and comments.
How exciting! I’m jealous for sure!
Driving in my car
Thinking where to go
Will I go too far
Driving in my car?
Watching the birds soar
How did the landscape grow
Driving in my car
Thinking where to go
Triolet by James, 4th grade
Nicely done, James. I like the use of the question in the middle – grabs my curiosity.
Great job, James. I especially like your rhyme, repetition, and the line watching the birds soar.
Hi James,
I can relate to being captivated by all the places being able to drive in your car allows you to go. It was really like freedom when I first got my license!! When I’m driving though I really try to focus on the road because like you, I could get totally caught up in my dreams. Though I must admit I notice the beauty of the landscape, the birds and signs that mention places I wish I could stop to visit. Time is precious, you are never to young to set goals and your poem makes me wish I had set some much earlier in my life. Keep writing, James, your poems and thoughts will both surprise and inspire you in ways you cannot yet imagine.
Really enjoyed this, James! The repetition is so effective!
Thanks, Margaret, for the brief visit to Scotland. When I closed my eyes, I thought Ireland.
my heart travels
across the sea
to find family
who left a song
in my soul
calling me back
Oh yes the call of song in your heart.
Ah Rose, the call of roots. I am being called to Italy and MUST go soon before I get much older. I wonder if you have been in Ireland? I loved my time there, though brief. I’d return in a heartbeat. And yes the siren song in your soul, calling you back……to learn, to discover, to honor…….such richness in your cherita.
Hi Janet-
Yes, I’ve been to Ireland as well as to Italy. Two big trips for us to honor our ancestors on both sides. Hope you make it to Italy. My favorite place there was Florence and the Tuscany region.
Love the “song in my soul, calling me back”, Rose!
A member of the Dunbar clan,
those I never knew trod this land.
Beloved grandfather, man gifted with gentle touch,
gleaming eyes, soft chuckle,
and hands that could build
a boat, Adirondack chairs,
strong glider for the massive oak
where for hours family sat, shared
wisdom born of need, determination, story.
But stories of Scotland and time before America
lost, gone with those who went before.
Work ahead to find whatever I can,
and ever grateful for the Scot I knew so well,
kind, loving, wonderful, Rob Dunbar, my grandpa.
Such a lyrical, lovely story-poem, Janet! I could picture your grandpa in this sweet verse.
Nice tribute to your grandfather. Thanks for sharing it.
Scotland challenged, come paint my beautiful scapes.
I joined plein air painters traveling to Scotland.
Dressed in layers we hiked. We chose favorite spots to draw and paint.
Mornings I visited the local bakery.
We shared our work everyday. I looked for ancestors.
I found a Victoria Cross possibly belonging to one.
Scotland was a magical place.
I love the challenge Scotland gives you, Patricia! Your words remind me of an artist friend’s retreat there, where her descriptions of the days felt similar.
Glad you were able to meet Scotland’s challenge.
Have never been to Scotland, but know I would love it. I’ll just close my eyes and imagine!