Loch Awe, by Lesley Benzie

Wigtown Scots Poetry Prize Winner

28 October 2024
Wigtown Scots Poetry Prize logo

Loch Awe


              We twa

took tae the langest loch in Scotland

in a sma, ill-equipped hire boat.


              Five bairns in oor care, anely twa cuid sweem,

an ma close freen, traversin its crannogs, sun-rays refractin

through its surface tae far the mythical kelpies hid,

              an dazzlin watter sprites flirted wi the ripplin loch’s

notoriously fickle netter, wi its waves an gusts capable

o embattlin the blissfully unaware tae early wattery graves.

              Captivated bi the ivy happit castle ruins,

almost lost tae time, on the loch’s Innis Chonnel Island,

              forby we felt the turn o ghosts

fae the ancient Celtic burial grun o Inishail,

              Ben Cruachan’s broodin shaddas amassed

fear for the propeller sheer, ah urged ye again,

              ‘dinna steer sae near the shallas’

Tae remind me fa held the tiller, ye veered closer still.

              Thick haar’s sudden swirlin, the licht fast dimmin.

As if, a barometer fur the temperature chillin, ae bairn shrieked,

the ithers quailed as an ancient beardy fishermin appeared.

A shroudit phantom at first, then a beacon o temporary repair

steerin oor safe passage back tae shore, far

              we twa

wuid go on tae mak o oorsels ancient history.

by Lesley Benzie