80/100 Who saw a rudderless hulk

Who saw a rudderless hulk, broken loom of cordage

That nightfall?  None.   In the dregs of sun

Westraymen had drawn high the yawls.

[from ‘The wreck of the Archangel’, George Mackay Brown, The wreck of the Archangel]

79/100 A labyrinth

A labyrinth of celled and waxen pain.

Yet I come to the honeycomb often, to sip the finished

Fragrance of men

[from ‘Kirkyard’, George Mackay Brown, from 'Selected Poems 1954-1992']

78/100 I have killed a king

What should I say?  I have killed a king.

But in every court, from

Scotland to India, powerful men

Stalk still like wolves in the forest.

[from ‘Journey, George Mackay Brown, Following a lark]

77.5 /100 Granny chair

77/100 Fishermen in Winter

The islands, blind whales,

Blundered about us.   We heard

The surge and plunge

And the keening all around.

[from Fishermen in Winter, George Mackay Brown, The wreck of the Archangel]

76/100 The yellow circle was thrown early

The grand-daughter of the king

Lights her lamp in the late afternoon now.

A month ago

The yellow circle was thrown early

On her page, on her sewing frame.

[VII from ‘February’, George Mackay Brown, Following a lark]

75/100 More convincingly than politicians

Lilac and juniper and lime

Talk to me

More convincingly than politicians

Who are husting

[from Druim Chinoiseries, George Mackay Brown, ‘Travellers’]