{"id":5074,"date":"2014-09-19T07:44:20","date_gmt":"2014-09-19T14:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hobbitsabroad.com\/?p=5074"},"modified":"2014-09-18T22:10:08","modified_gmt":"2014-09-19T05:10:08","slug":"and-so-this-morning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbitsabroad.com\/?p=5074","title":{"rendered":"And so, this morning…"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

To Scotland, however you should find yourself, this morning:<\/p>\n

Oh, the many faces you showed us in our five years of living with you, Scotland – quirky, bloodyminded, crazed, strange, silly, ferocious, friendly, angry, vivid, cautious, different.<\/p>\n

\"Kilsyth<\/a><\/p>\n

Town ride, Kilsyth.<\/p>\n

\"Stirling<\/a><\/p>\n

A Shopping Fool, Stirling<\/p>\n

\"IMG_8046\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hens night oot! Bishopton<\/p>\n

\"Stirling<\/a><\/p>\n

Springtime STYLIN’ in Stirling.<\/p>\n

\"Alec's<\/a>

New friends, Quayside, Glasgow<\/p>\n

\"Charing<\/a><\/p>\n

Friendly adversaries, Charing Cross.<\/p>\n

\"Alec's<\/a><\/p>\n

Old friends, Quayside<\/p>\n

\"Uisge<\/a><\/p>\n

Sassy. West End, Glasgow.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_9395\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Silly…Largs.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_7927\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sweet. Bishopton.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Each face is you, and what makes you, you.<\/p>\n

And, on this first morning, when neighbors step out to the newsagent together, and eyes meet over coffee, when the endless news reports are spilling through the airways, we think of lovely, complex, vital you<\/i>, and with your wise poet, we say:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

The Morning After<\/h2>\n

Scotland, September 19th, 2014<\/b><\/p>\n

Let none wake despondent: one way
\nor another we have talked plainly,
\ntested ourselves, weighed up the sum
\nof our knowing, ta\u2019en tent o scholars,
\nchecked the balance sheet of risk and
\nfearlessness, of wisdom and of folly.
\n… <\/p>\n

It\u2019s those unseen things that bind us,
\nnot flag or battle-weary turf or tartan.
\nThere are dragons to slay whatever happens:
\npoverty, false pride, snobbery, sectarian
\nschisms still hovering. But there\u2019s
\nnothing broken that\u2019s not repairable.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

Read the whole of the poem by Christine De Luca at the Scottish Poetry Library<\/a>, or listen to new voters recite it below.<\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n