Jane Skelton’s ‘Moniave, Scotland’
from What the river told me
in a pub in Moniave
I think I’ve found my people
enveloped in a clutch of folk musicians
singing at the top of my voice
I see a thin child enter
with a wolfhound on a lead
but when she turns and looks up
I she is a little person
of wrinkled face and long straw hair
I think I’ve found my people
although I don’t understand a word
it doesn’t matter
the single malts are finished
before the stage of gutter-rolling
that night I couldn’t sleep
the next day I’m taken to Castle Douglas by car
the scenic route of winding roads at breakneck speed
he gave me a special Scottish sweet
when he said goodbye
I appreciate it later
caramel melting on my tongue
on the bus to Newton Stewart
at Moniave I thought I’d found my people
but it was only the whisky
I’ll probably never go to Moniave again
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