STUART GRAHAM is an environmentalist dedicated to the conservation of Scotland’s landscapes and wildlife. He was awarded the Highly Commended category in the Hugh Miller Writing Competition in 2020. He recently presented a selection of his geological poetry to the Geological Society of London at their Geopoetry2020 conference. His work will be anthologised in three books over the coming year. He is an active member of the Dumfries-based High Street Writers.
Here Stuart is in the Galloway wilderness as Neowise, the brightest comet in the northern hemisphere since Halle-Bop, tracks across the night sky.
Covid meets Comet at the White Laggan Bothy
by Stuart Graham
North facing you stand catching
mid-summer’s setting sun.
Black Laggan, your twin, has
returned to the underworld,
yet still you remain. Iron railing
twisted, enclosures tumbled,
nettles crowding.
Trees gather round now the sheep
and people have departed,
sending back their gift of seed
from a new world,
to clothe their absence.
Lockdown sucked you dry
until new life breathed in
with litter’s blooming.
New found freedoms abused
by masses oblivious as
Covid meets Comet under
dark skies clouding,
where out of sight Neowise
tumbles past Perihelion.
© Stuart Graham, March 2021
Big Bang's Star Poets series is curated by Hugh McMillan