A Hero’s Deith
Still he shidders, an staunds wi his swuird, an threitens,
kiverin wi breuken shield his kist’s remains,
nou, his een are plowt intae infineet shaidae,
spirin frae lips that lin thair hero’s sang.
Faur awa, twa seelent raens watch
The warriour arise wi shaidae weengs.
In the nicht o thae weengs, his een, bricht as day,
as flicht unnertaken, intae the lip o sky.
The Craws
Ower the hime o battle,
An the jargle o warriours,
Passes a slaw beat o weengs;
An oorie craik is haurd
As the twa craws come,
Messengers daurk an divine,
And laund on the shooders o God,
An speak tae his ear.
In Valhalla
A reid hime rings. Shields an spears a-dundert
intae a lang, uncannie rair.
Fae gapin mooths, the bluidy wounds sproot
purpie rivers.
An smuirichs, an lauchter,
An a mort-heid fou
o mead, for whilk
burnin wi fiver, deid warriours thirst.
Thomas Clark is a Glaswegian poet, writer and filmmaker whose work has most recently been featured in Lallans, Southlight, The Eildon Tree, New Voices Press and Dream Catcher amongst others. He can be found at twitter.com/ClashCityClarky.
Note: These poems are free translations into Scots dialect of originals by the Bolivian poet Ricardo Jaimes Freyre.