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Poems By Mary
One of four
Ben Lawer beckoned
A Leader to be trusted
What am l doing here
One of four
The Leader stopped in his tracks
Turned round eyes meeting mine
Challenging me ‘ no word spoken
No looking back ‘ moving upwards
In the quiet of our surroundings
The noise of boots in unison
Echoing in the quiet of our surroundings
Onward and upwards
Crystallised air coating all
Onward and upwards with boots keeping pace
One of four
The Leader with steady pace
In the quiet of our surroundings
Shhhhh
Boots silenced
One of four
Eyes looked upwards
On the horizon there sat a hare
On his haunches with ears on alert
A back cloth of azure blue
Clouds of cotton wool here and there
A wall of silence
Minutes stretched
A wall of silence broken
Seconds stretched
One of four
Heads turning right towards the wooded area
The vastness of a valley divided
Hundred or more deer broke free
With the pounding of hooves
down into the valley
The beating of hearts
A wall of silence broken
Seconds stretched
One of four
Heads turned to look ahead
The ridge merged as one with the azure blue ‘
Cotton wool clouds
The Hare off to pastures new
Forty years have passed
One of four
Camera not required
Mary G. Douglas
The rubber stamp of Officialdom
Edinburgh ‘ the city of my birth
Dundee was Jute jam & industry
All l knew ‘ of a city ‘ on the River Tay
On the pillion of a Vincent 1000cc
Travelled South’ but never North
Took the ferry over the River Forth
First experience of travelling North
Fife and it’s beauty ‘ villages passed through
The Journey on the Tay Ferry not forgotten.
The Victoria Arch ‘ driving through it
A memory yet ‘ entrenched within me
Alas ‘ it’s demise rubber stamped by local
officialdom
The magnificence of much of Dundee’s Architecture
Alas ‘ their demise rubber stamped by local
Officialdom
The sailing ship Discovery ‘
A joy to clamber over ‘descent into the bowels
Another world ‘ exciting the imagination
compelling me to read of “ Captain Scott ‘
His journey to the Antarctic ‘ uncharted
McManus Museum ‘ statue of Queen Victoria
The architecture of the surrounding buildings
Dundee High School ‘ Courier Building ‘ Caird Hall
Thankfully escaped from a demise ‘
the rubber stamp of local officialdom
Much ‘ of Dundee Architecture not respected
their magnificence and stature
Alas ‘ desecrated when rubber stamped
by local officialdom
Visionaries of future ‘ mourning of the people
their grandeur ‘ reduced over decades
Alas ‘ rubber stamped by local officialdom
A mix of concrete jungle & splendour of ‘
Architecture of the past
Alas ‘ rubber stamped by local officialdom
Never forgiven by the folk of Dundee
Camperdown ‘ Caird Park ‘ Baxter Park eg;
Escaped the rubber stamp of officialdom
The docks ‘ the jute Mills ‘ whaling ‘
The oldest naval ship ‘ The Unicorn
The Grandeur of the West End : West Ferry
Architecture
The tenements buildings with their narrow passageways dividing them
The River Tay Estuary ‘ a short walk from the City Centre
The coastline of the North Sea’ a joy to explore
A memory of yesteryear, never forgotten
Mary G. Douglas
Camera not required
Ben Lawer beckoned
A Leader to be trusted
What am l doing here
One of three
The Leader stopped in his tracks
Turned round eyes meeting mine
Challenging me ‘ no word spoken
No looking back ‘ moving upwards
In the quiet of our surroundings
The noise of boots in unison
Echoing in the quiet of our surroundings
Onward and upwards
Crystallised air coating all
Onward and upwards with boots keeping pace
One of three
The Leader with steady pace
In the quiet of our surroundings
Shhhhh
Boots silenced
One of three
Eyes looked upwards
On the horizon there sat a hare
On his haunches with ears on alert
A back cloth of azure blue
Clouds of cotton wool here and there
A wall of silence
Minutes stretched
A wall of silence broken
Seconds stretched
One of three
Heads turning right towards the wooded area
The vastness of a valley divided
Hundred or more deer broke free
With the pounding of hooves
down into the valley
The beating of hearts
A wall of silence broken
Seconds stretched
One of three
Heads turned to look ahead
The ridge merged as one with the azure blue ‘
Cotton wool clouds
The Hare off to pastures new
Forty years have passed
One of three
Camera not required
Mary G. Douglas
An ODE To desire
Sat on the train
Asleep yet alert to the sounds of snoring and the chatter of others
My slumber broken by the trundling of the trolley piercing my thoughts
Joy of treats ‘ balm to my soul
A cloak of warmth enveloped my
Being
Jolt ‘ what was that ‘ not the train ‘ my brain screaming ‘ what are you doing ‘ l argued ‘ l pleaded ‘ l bargained - honest won’t eat another morsel until tomorrow
It took on a mantle ‘desire within me relentless’ encouraging within ‘ go on you have a need ‘ feed it ‘ nurture it ‘ love it ‘ taste buds jumping for joy ‘
As the carriage door slid open
the desire within me advanced ‘ armed with the ‘ power to bring me down ‘ it hesitated ‘ beguiling ‘ ‘
Breaking down my resistance my inner resolve
weakening ‘ when jolt ‘ the trundling of the trolley moved on its journey to captivate another
Asleep on the train yet alert to the sounds around me .
Mary G. Douglas
The meaning of Life
I have never climbed a mountain
Stood on the peak
Surveying all beyond and below
I have never dived to the depths of any sea or ocean
Surveying all the beauty of the deep hiding what is their means of survival
A sting or a substance to trap the unwary
Do l require to achieve to “ know it all “
To understand the “ meaning of life ?”
All l require is to look and learn
What is behind the soft words? the kind act of a deed ?
I have a granny of my own says the voice
I will walk with you to your door ‘
No smile ? A bland appearance? eyes unreadable ?
Politely declined
Two roads home ? One on the left One on the right
The lighting noted shines outwards not inwards
The road ahead well lit from traffic ‘ a busy urban thoroughfare
Don’t be fooled by the slowed gait? The useful tool? the sight of a buggy ?
Defies the logic of the assumption made
Sharp is the mind honed over decades
All considered
Wisdom does come with Age
Be the keeper of your own Soul said Father
The eyes are the mirror of the Soul said Father
Words of Wisdom from decades past
To Listen and Learn
That is The Meaning of Life
Mary G. Douglas
The journey unknown
1945 ‘ War had ended ‘ not rationing
Mother in local shop ‘ as rumoured
Had inside ‘ cheese and broken biscuits
Aged 5 ‘ could be trusted
Standing outside ‘ l caught sight of a tiny
figure ‘ head bowed with hair tied with string
Her body thinly clad with shoes down at heel
In each hand ‘ a heavily laden bag
I felt a pang of sorrow ‘ she looked so sad
Instinctively offered to carry her bags
Without a word ‘ she accepted my help
No thought given ‘ of Mother in shop
In silence we walked side by side ‘ to where?
Childlike expectation of her home nearby
We walked and walked ‘ crossing roads to where
Lothian road ‘ a familiar sight but not for long
King Stable Road ‘ the sign on the wall
Without a word ‘ we slowly walked
She with frailty’ with me ‘ heavily laden
In silence we walked side by side to where ?
No thought given of Mother in shop
We walked and walked and walked and ‘
the road we walked was endless’ it seemed
Yet l had no fear ‘ l was doing my duty
Mother had taught me to care
those less able than myself ‘ a frail old lady
Poorly dressed and heavily laden
In silence we walked and walked and walked
The castle wall to our left ‘ walking to where ?
The road was endless ‘ in silence we walked
She with frailty ‘ with me ‘ heavily laden
I felt a fear of the unknown destination
The road opened up ‘ fear grew within me
In silence we walked side by side to where ?
Ahead saw figures ‘ thinly clad standing in clusters
With shock ‘ faced with poorly clad women
Straddled in a heap together ‘ with clay pipe in one hand with a bottle in the other ‘ asleep
Lying outside the entrance of a formidable building
I looked into the dingy darkness ‘ this was Hell
The frail woman stood in silence ‘ l held high
the heavy bags ‘ silence broken ‘ l found my voice ‘ l am not going in there said l ‘
The frail woman ‘ without a word or a meeting of eyes
accepted the burden of her heavily laden bags
She made her way into the darkness of Hell
I had no fear ‘ across the square ‘ salvation
A Police Box stood .
I ran at speed ‘ the door was shut ‘
I banged my fist ‘ the door opened
A policeman ‘ without ado ‘ l told him l was lost
his job to take me home
My name and address ‘ my Mother in a shop
He smiled and took my offered hand ‘ saying
Don’t worry l will take you home .
We walked past the frail ‘ thinly clad people
No sign of the frail lady with the heavily laden bags
We walked past the entrance of darkness
I had no fear
We walked and walked and walked and walked
The castle wall now on my right ‘ knew going home
I silence we walked and walked snd walked
On my right read the sign ‘ King Stable Road
The policeman quietly said ‘ your are nearly home
We crossed over Lothian Road
When turning into Morrison Street saw Mother Policemen standing by her ‘ she was crying
I am in trouble thought l
She ran toward me ‘ crying ‘ yet happy
I was safe ‘ and forgiven .
In hindsight this frail woman ‘ thinly clad
Her bags filled with her belongings ‘taking her
herself and her heavily laden burden ‘ where ?
She was homeless ‘ and Hell ‘ her destination
The workhouse at the entrance to
The Grassmarket
Mary G. Douglas
