West Beach, Berneray
You want your days to spread
along the bay, a coat of gold light
wind harvesting machair
tuned to a sky littered with geese,
sanderlings skittering in every direction
a ferry waltzing the low tides
of the Sound where you walk
on sand that gives
adding your footprints to the sea
and watch days fall out of a wind
blowing each thought clean
your bones a whistle
an ocarina Aeolian
scoured white as a shell
holding emptiness in its lips
to the beach where you dragged
a branch of kelp from the waves
and whirled it about your head
this your banner,
your rallying cry, your flag:
Here is where I make my stand.
Jon Miller has had poetry published in a range of literary magazines – Chapman, Dark Horse, Strix, Northwords Now, Dreich, New Writing Scotland – as well as book and exhibition reviews, literary journalism and a poetry pamphlet ‘Still Life’ (Sandstone Press). Twitter: @jmjon6