Alcluith
From cobbler shop to castle
I follow the Leven’s path
by a row of bilious bobbins
curfuffle of white feather
over sand, dent and hummock
the skitter-scuff of shingle
to a ridge bolstered by slate
wired for the cuff of the Clyde –
whipped on by clamouring gulls
clipped by whirligig cagoule
I take shelter at Levengrove
under crack and clack of wood
forge a foothold in root
cling to the cord of Alcluith.
Maureen Cullen has an MA in creative writing from Lancaster University. In 2016, she was published along with three other poets in Primers 1, a collaboration between Nine Arches Press and the Poetry School.