Royal Observatory

You need time to see
All there is to see
At the old Royal Observatory

In the octagonal room
The long pendulum of time
Swings slowly
And on a cool New Year’s Eve
You find yourself
Standing on the frost-flecked slopes
Of Observatory Hill
Watching for the second
Which every year escapes

Meanwhile
The new-fangled atomic clock
Loses only one second
Every billion years

How can we live
With such a gaping margin of error?

A Thousand Mile Journey

A thousand mile journey
Must start with a step
A lesson begins with a queue
A mushroom risotto
Begins with a cep
The many starts out as the few

The story – four figures
Dark suited and sad
Who carry the coffin above -
Begins with a second glance
Shyly returned
And proceeds with a kiss
And with love

The Whisky Experience

Here in Edinburgh’s Royal Mile
The kids enjoy the ride
In the automated cars
That creep around
Scotland's past
In the Water-of-Life Whisky Experience

It’s good to give
The boys and girls
An early fun -
Soft-focus
Sun-shining-on-the-golden-barley
Rainbows-in-waterfalls-
Water-of-Life Whisky Experience

I mean
It’s not as if Scotland
Or Britain
Or the world, for that matter
Has any kind of problems
With alcohol-related deaths
Or alcoholism
Is it?

Good to catch them young.
And for the adults – a wee dram
And a free glass.