Indyref poem imagines Scotland the morning after

SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE: The new “Poet Laureate for Edinburgh” has written her first poem, imagining Scotland waking up on 19 September, the day after the referendum.

Christine De Luca, originally from Shetland, is now a proud citizen of Edinburgh

Edinburgh Makar Christine De Luca said the day would be one of the most difficult Scots had ever faced – with both the Yes and Better Together camps required to live together no matter the outcome.

De Luca said she wrote a poem with a conciliatory theme because of the negative feelings the referendum was bringing out among some people.

Award-winning De Luca writes in “The Morning After Scotland, 19th September 2014” that Scots should focus on their values of equality and fairness.

She writes “It’s those unseen things that bind us, not flag or battle-weary turf or tartan.”

“It’s the most fundamental thing we’re talking about at the moment,” she said. “Everyone is engaged. Mostly it’s fine but it brings out bad temper and aggression in some folk.

“September 19 will be the most difficult day when people wake up with sore heads, especially if the vote is close and it has not gone the way they wanted. People will have to dig deep into themselves to get through this time.”

The poem gets its first public airing on 11 September at the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, where leading political figures will discuss the implications of the Scottish referendum.

The morning after: Scotland, 19th September 2014

Let none wake despondent: one way or another we have talked plainly, tested ourselves, weighed up the sum of our knowing, ta’en tent o scholars, checked the balance sheet of risk and fearlessness, of wisdom and of folly.

Was it about the powers we gain or how we use them? We aim for more equality; and for tomorrow to be more peaceful than today; for fairness, opportunity, the common weal; a hand stretched out in ready hospitality.

It’s those unseen things that bind us, not flag or battle-weary turf or tartan. There are dragons to slay whatever happens: poverty, false pride, snobbery, sectarian schisms still hovering. But there’s nothing broken that’s not repairable.

We’re a citizenry of bonnie fighters, a gathered folk; a culture that imparts, inspires, demands a rare devotion, no back-tracking; that each should work and play our several parts to bring about the best in Scotland, an open heart

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