Fir Wid

for Jessie Kesson

I like tae lie deep doon
In a Scots fir wid.
It disna sook nor cling

It's a phalanx o sword,
Wi adequate room fur manoeuvre

In the resin kingdom,
A fir is dragon-green
It is honed tae rescind
Corruption, a timmer sanctuary.

A fir, is a Saint Sebastian.
Scourged, it'll bleed in martyrdom,
Withooten a sab, or a sigh ...
Manly, as ony Lysander;
A column o Spartan virr

Sae unlike the flummery cloud pomander
O birk, wi its wummin's wyes
That shifts an pairts the skies
Whyles seen, whyles hid.
A trimmle o meevin grace
Is a Scots fir wid!

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