Tilted Days

Shirley Nicholson

Description

"I've learnt", Shirley Nicholson writes, "to listen to island talk" and this book proves the truth of that, with its close observation of the birds, animals and people of Fair Isle, and the note it strikes, again and again, of wonder at her good fortune in finding herself on this northern island. But Nicholson's poems are more than tributes to what that place's winds blow in her direction. Nicholson is also both an observer and practitioner of what she calls "island skills" and these poems nip at their lines, cast off images, and steadily stitch together memorable patterns which are possessed by a singing weather of their own.

- John McAuliffe

It's not often that someone can come in on a small island community and understand the rhythm of life in all its cyclical glory, and portray it with such detailed beauty and understanding, but that's exactly what Shirley has achieved with her heartfelt portrayal of Fair Isle, its people, wildlife, seasons and landscape. She weaves the past into the present in a tantalising journey through the island, drawing the reader in, and painting a beautiful technicolour portrait in words and verse of island life.

- Laurie Goodlad

Sujets

• Poetry
• Lockdown

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse UK
• Date de parution: 28 mars 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798823081221
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

TILTED

DAYS

TILTED DAYS

A September Gathering of
Fair Isle Poems

by
Shirley Nicholson

Illustrations by Alexa Fitzgibbon
© 2023 Shirley Nicholson. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

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Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.


ISBN: 979-8-8230-8123-8 (sc)
ISBN: 979-8-8230-8122-1 (e)



Published by AuthorHouse 28/03/2023
Contents
Beginning Days
Looking Beyond the Pilot’s Shoulder
A Friend Asks What is the Moon Like?
Newly Arrived
Making the Fire, Lower Leogh
Jimmy’s Collie, One-Year-Old Today
A Few Words with the Wind
Daddy Long Legs
As the Sun Disappears
About Sheep
Sheep Rock
Sage, the White Shetland Ram
By the Ruined Mill at Funniquoy
On the Rippack
Island Pulse
Island Pulse
The Shetland Flag
Of Araldite and a Straightened Paper Clip
A Conversation
Kathy’s Cushions
Dave Shows us his Sweater
Ties
South Light
Bird Count
Wings Along the Northern Cliffs
On Malcolm’s Head
At Golden Water
With the Whooper
Fulmar
Storm Petrel, South Lighthouse
Sea, Sky, Land and Concrete Slabs
Sea and Land
Blue
The Old Woman of the Hill
At South Harbour
Walking Above Klinger’s Geo
Some Small September Things
From One of the Natural Springs
A Plastic Bottle and a Mermaid’s Purse
Asking
Island Vespers
Past and Present Celebrated
The Lessing Remembered, 1868
Unearthly
As Winds Push Clouds Eastwards
Waiting
Red Admiral
Song of the Scythe
Hymn of Island Paths
Cooking Salmon in the Kitchen
On the Last Night
Sea Glass
Sunset
The Chapel Bell Rings
A Fair Isle Lullaby
Notes
Acknowledgements
Special Thanks
Biographical Notes

Beginning Days
Looking Beyond the
Pilot’s Shoulder
The Shipping Forecast
plays in my head like a rhyme
Fair Isle…Fair Isle…Fair Isle
words I’ve heard since I was young
and now, below, Fair Isle
held in its skin of grass
my first glimpse knife-cut cliff-edge
Sheep Rock: a wren’s angled tail feathers
a green brightness in two great seas
small despite the world’s knowing.

A Friend Asks
What is the Moon Like?
Where is the lady?
Day after day
night’s back drapes
cover the sky.
Perhaps she waits
in the cave
at Kirn O’Skroo,
or her boat
is shipwrecked
on the rocks.
Maybe she hides
behind the tip
of Ward Hill,
or lies in shadow
beyond the faelly daek.
Has she dipped
into the sea
or been whisked
away by wind?
Is she swathed
round a fence post
or asleep in a kennel
with one of the collies,
even tucked away
in the old corn
kiln? Someone
suggests cloud
is the culprit.
Where are you
tonight ?