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Two Poems: Selchs; The BowerAuthor(s): Kathleen JamieSource: The Irish Review (1986-), No. 28, Ireland and Scotland: Colonial Legacies and NationalIdentities (Winter, 2001), pp. 89-90Published by: Cork University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/29736046 .
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KATHLEEN JAMIE
SELCHS
Daur we, majo, dae lik thae selchs, sae
inglamourt bi the saumon-rin
thae dinnae tak wit
til thur somewhaur wanchancy
caller-waiter, taintit wi peat?
THE BOWER
Neither born nor gifted
crafted, nor bequeathed this forest dwelling's little
but a warp or tease
in the pliant light trees
soften and confine.
Though it's nothing but an attitude of mind
mere breath rising in staves,
the winds assail
its right to exist, this anchorage or musical-box, veiled
JAMIE, 'Two Poems', Irish Review 28 (2001)
This content downloaded from 91.229.229.111 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 12:32:41 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
and listing deep in the entailed estate
sure only of its need
to annunciate.
But when song, cast
from such frail enclaves
meets the forest's edge, it returns in waves.
Selchs ?
seals; wanchancy ?
unlucky, dangerous; caller-watter
? fresh water.
90 JAMIE, 'Two Poems', Irish Review 28 (2001)
This content downloaded from 91.229.229.111 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 12:32:41 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
