Ever the clown, I dressed up in a borrowed Douglas kilt, with matching scarf and tam’o'santer, and carrying a child’s bagpipes in my hand as I recited my Wee Duncan D. poems.
Many are funny, here are 4 more serious ones.
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“if only ah cud be a poet awl oo’ the time!” Rabbie Burns.
I cud ha’ wrut
A bonnie poem
This morning,
If only I had a pen.
If only I had a way
O’ gitting a pen
There an’ then
Then I cud ha’ wrut
A bonnie poem
This morning,
If I hadna job tae dae.
I stood ahim
The Second Provost
Who stood ahim
The First…
An I had nae way
O’ gitting a pen
When this morning
I stood sae prood
An’ we aal bowed
Tae a better Scotland!
I drink oon tha’!
—
Wee Duncan D.
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Lines fae mi father.
An’ the train tha’ ha’ clanged it’s wey frae coal truck tae coal truck is gane,
An we may nay see it’s likes again.
They let the grass grow there father, aye,
Grass an silence under the silent sky.
It’s a field o’ emptiness but fae us auld,
An’ where the line once were it noo blaws cald.
Ye worked in these yards didnae ye, mi dad,
Worked there gin retirement frae a wee lad.
Noo the yard is nae mair, it’s noo lang syne,
As is mi memory of ye, father o’ mine.
They are shunting in heaven dad, aye it’s true,
An ye are working up there fae the good o’ Crewe.
(note: Crewe was the h/q of dad’s lonely Scottish yard.)
—
Wee Duncan D.
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St. Cuthbert’s, Edinburgh.
Sitting i’ the graveyaird
Alang wi’ the deid,
Armed wi’ a buik
That I yet haen’t reid.
Leuking at aal the nature
I’m hunkering here amang,
An’ wonnering why I’m dying
Wi’ mi poems syne unsang.
—
Wee Duncan D.
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Widowered
I’m as lonely as the moon.
A whishie o’ a hert-woun,
Fae where there were twa there is aynoo yin;
The end o mi suld sang ha’ begun
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Wee Duncan D.
Comments (41)
I don’t think I’ve read any of Wee Duncun D. before. I like him. I like the Scottish-ness.
Brilliant as always, Mr. Terry.
And word–I’m not much a fan of digitcal cameras either. Manual photography is slowly vanishing because people these days are too impatient to deal with it. Sad thing.
Sarah.
These are nice poems. I suggest reading them out loud for the full effect. Thank you for sharing with us.
yes a loud reading is essential ~ interesting Lord you are multifacted in ur talents & tongues ~ Church of O Daddy O is a personal joke of sorts from a piece i wrote a while back & the pics worked for me but thanks i always take your critisms into consideration ~ thanx for stoppin’ by magi
These are very interesting works that compelled me to read them several times. I understood all of them except: “Fae where there were twa there is aynoo yin;/The end o mi suld sang ha’ begun” from the last one. My feeble brain can’t decipher “aynoo yin” and “suld sang”.
Very different. I like it.
saud-syne: happy times, Whishie=whisper, hert-sair=heartsored, aynoo yin,=just now one.
I love the scottish dialect.. I may have to find your book somewhere.. very nice poetry..
i agree with the_material_girl ..these poems need to be read out loud by you, i love the Scottish accent and such an accent makes me swoon
im amazed with you, you have great talents in creating great poems !!
RYC: All those Beanos and Dandy can buy a car!!! He must have kept them in mint condition !!!! I have never heard of that book by Blyon, maybe i’ll look around for that !! And im guessing here LP, you got to tell me
LOL – Oh these are just FUN. You had fun writing them, I had fun reading them and imagining you in your kilt. {hugs}
I like the St. Cuthberts one a lot, but it’s very sad. Love to see more of these!
i am having a little fun picturing you in your getup at edinburgh, myself.
ryc – a hoot, a positive hoot - you can’t travel with your dog, you’re not blind. and the person signs, no, i’m not blind, i’m deaf. and the airlines person looks madly about for help, then says, loudly, “you’re deaf?” and she doesn’t lip read and so signs again, i’m deaf…. and round and round and round all the way to court and a disability rights lawsuit….
The St. Cuthbert’s poem spoke most to me. We all had better sing our poems while we can! I had a bit of trouble wrapping my brain around some of the words in the other poems, although I love to hear it spoken.
The thing abou the families is a link to a story about my friend’s death that occurred the other day… thought I’d ask people to keep his family and his friend’s family in their thoughts. That’s all, didn’t miss much, just didn’t see the link, haha
hey, i’ve never seen any Wee Duncan stuff on this site before, but i like it, it has a scottishy-feel to it
Although I know I’d love to hear these read, I’m glad I’ve seen them written. Gave me a chance to figure out the languange! One doesn’t quite hear the tongue o’ the Scotts in New Mexico!
ryc: Aww…so sorry all my stuff only made you give dismal comments. I love you, anyway.
Always and All Ways…GFW
Somehow, I think Rabbie Burns would be right proud of ye.
Aye, Rabbie wuld be verra proud!!
I love Wee Duncan.
These are fantastic.
I hope you are well LP
I dont get around much. I try to but I am either busy or tired…
I do love your blog.
I like the last two. Cute.
So breathing, aye? As in how the poem would flow being read out loud? Alright. I’ll work on it.
-Jos-
these were rather interesting than your previous ones. you kept mentioning your book and i kept wanting to buy it.
the edinburgh festival?
darn i love edinburgh.
i love the castle.
oh i love the castle.
I believe I am a real fan of Wee Dunkin
Something about the Irish/Scottish (I dunno which, I’m just an ignorant American) accent (or maybe its gaelic…?) makes it supremely difficult for me to read. Maybe its because I’ve never been to the UK or Scotland or Ireland and thus am not used to hearing that accent. Which makes me wonder…if I talked to a British person, would I be the one with the accent? I’m not sure Californians have an “accent” the way New Englanders or New Yorkers or Midwesterners or Southerners or Texans do. Keep it copasetic. Peace.
Ye’r a lad o pairts.
You’re generous aren’t you, LordPineapple? Nice of you to still promote PorticaC’s site….
And thanks for your kind words.
These series of poems are amazing…I like the last one the best, the prt about the lonely Moon…. The language is ….somewhat hard to understand, but I read it thrice and got you.
Are your books available in bookstores worldwide, my dear Lord?
leaving a stalk of dark rose,
-Elle
My you are busy fellow! Karolyn @-}-}–
how many “characters” do you have?
ryc: no i’ve not done slam before, but i find it interesting, though it’s really not my writing style. good stuff though, thanks much for the comment!
jase
lol, oh reading it all aloud is fun, it is a twist to much for me at first but once i got going it was very enjoyable, great pieces i am only wondering if there are more to look forward too.
It’Mor
They are funny to read, must have be much more funny to listen, if one understands the language of course.
be around weekend to visit you all. Terry. Sunday is next posting.
So many mind pictures and personas and lovely things come out of your talented mind
Terry, please check your email. I will be sending you something that I need you to read. Thanks!
Even your serious works sometimes get a smile out of me. I read the St. Cuthbert’s one over several times. then I read it out aloud right here in the internet cafe, just to hear the sound of it. It must be some kind of genetic memory that makes those words roll of my tongue so sweetly.
I’m a Douglas, tho’ our branch adds an extra ess on the end because everybody does have an ass (an arse, to you, I suppose) on their end. I know I’ve seen the Douglas tartan somewhere once upon a time, but don’t recall how it looks. All I remember is that there’s a dress one and a hunting one and I liked the green camouflage design better. I wish I knew someone I could borrow a kilt from, to wear to the barbecue this Saturday.
Brilliance in words yet again……!
RYC: Yes, sometimes the pics I take inspire me to write poetry. Not the latest series though…it is hard to feel poetic when the tornado sirens are blaring! lol
I use a digi cam…my scanner is temporarily out of order…well until I can locate the software to reinstall it anyway. Oh well. I like my cam better. lol
P.S.: I followed the link in your previous post and went to see your pics…..great shots! I love the architecture of some of the buildings…they look so quaint. The Jesus college reminds me of an enchanted castle straight out of a fairy tale.
This really needs to be read aloud! Love to hear the accent! @-}-}–
LP, these are a beautiful departure from what i usually see on this page. the way you can capture moments in so many different voices amazes me. i must be a narcissist, for all I seem to do is rant about the “I”. Take care. hope you are well. Looking forward to whatever you throw at us next. hugs ~jacki
I love the gaelic, rhythms entirely different than English – though Scottish is so different from Irish in the way sentences are built (and I know nothing of Manx except that it’s weird that it has survived).
And commenting on a comment: I loved this from waterjar: “I’m not sure Californians have an “accent” the way New Englanders or New Yorkers or Midwesterners or Southerners or Texans do.” – I can tell a Californian within three words, and usually can say which part of California. Of course few grow up thinking that they “have an accent.” It’s always the other folks.
Oh my, I find myself in the presence or near so of a true writer. Of course, my writing is so riddled with grammatical errors, that I could never hope to compare to such as yourself. You’re quite gifted after all.
Listen to the condescension leaking out of the seams! I can’t believe I could so something like that . . . !!! I’ll leave it there though, so you can see what kind of person I am. I’m trying to write a series of sonnets myself . . . All shakespearian types . . . going good, slightly . . . except some of them don’t really drive a point at all . . . too nebulous.
But I read your work, and I love it. Wee Duncan D. poems are quite hilarious, due to your linguistic inflections, and the political correctedness of it all . . . it’s quite funny.
Well, that’s just me.
Ah, the Scottish brogue-loving it. I was asked to recite a poem in my senior year-forgot which poem-but I said it in brogue, the room was quite silent. I love Wee Duncan D! Hugs to you.
I love this!! This writing is awesome! Thanks for sharing it!
IRT~ your comment means alot Lord, i do try to sound like my own voice, but your the first to say so, and coming from you it does mean alot.
then again i have never read anyone who writes like you, wonder why i never told you before oh well now you know,
hope your doing well.
It’Mor