Friday, September 29, 2006

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

Saturday, September 02, 2006

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.