Poem for June

Arran Haiku

Crushed grass in the thirties. An
extinct bird, Avro Anson,
drills soft clouds over Arran.

Bharrain, Bhreac, Tarsuinn,
Nuis, Goat Fell. They made
huge clouds trickle down quiet glens.

Whiting Bay. Full cups
of rhodedendron
waited to be touched and spilt.

Corrie. A name heard
like a bell from lips
of wet home-coming adults.

Blackwaterfoot. Grey
hulking warships, short-
lived cathedrals in the mist.

Shiskine. Black and white keys trained
at Mozart. Wet colours ran
down tall streaming manse windows.

Robin Fulton, c.1980

An Arran Anthology, ed. Hamish Whyte (1997: Mercat Press)

Robin Fulton was born in Arran in 1937, where his father was a minister. These haiku give snapshots of his early years on the island during the war.