Craig Aitchison
Wigtown Scots Poetry Prize Winner
30 September 2023
Juist
for Kevin Higgins (1973-2023)
Juist a body A kent for awee.
Juist a pal tae meet for a pint or three,
Juist someone aye riddy fir a blether –
aboot music, beuks, lassies, whitever.
Juist a gid lauch whae cud mak me golder
or when a gret tae offer a shouder,
tae let me haiver whiles he’d doucely list,
kenning that aw he hud tae say was juist
‘Tell me this and tell me no more’, wide-eened,
noddin. ‘Serious? Wow.’ Juist a pal, juist a freend.
Syne we driftit apairt. An A meant tae call,
tae hear the crack an let aw the years faw
away. A should huv ettlet, should huv socht
mair. Plenty o time A suppose A thocht.
A niver. Too late noo. Somehow a juist
niver. Sae A juist mind an mane an miss.