Elizabeth Burns
A litany
(after The Icecream Man by Michael Longley)
I cannot name for you all the wildflowers
of the Machars I saw in one day, but I can tell you
that among them were sea campion and spring squill,
herb robert, burnet rose and scarlet pimpernel,
bugle, bluebell, cranesbill, speedwell,
sea radish and birdsfoot trefoil, eyebright and thrift,
red campion and ramson, primrose and violet
and I can tell you that at the end of the rocky shore
in the cave of Ninian, bringer of Christianity
there were laid little wilted bunches of these flowers
along with crosses made of driftwood
tied with scraps of rope or fishing net,
and smooth pebbles left by pilgrims.
I cannot name for you all the women of that place
killed as witches or covenantors, but I can tell you
that among them were Helen Moorhead and Jean Thomson,
Agnes Comenes and Agnes Clerk, Elspeth Thomson and Elspeth
McEwen,
Margaret Clark, Margaret Wilson, Margaret Maclachlan,
Janet Dunn, Janet Corsone, Janet Callan, Janet McMurdoch,
Janet McKendrig and Janet McGowane
and I can tell you that perhaps a sister or a friend
of one of these accused slipped down Physgill Glen at dusk
and made her way to the cave, even then when pilgrimages
were banned, and made supplication to the saint
and brought for him a pebble and a handful of wildflowers
she’d gathered and whose names she knew by heart.
of the Machars I saw in one day, but I can tell you
that among them were sea campion and spring squill,
herb robert, burnet rose and scarlet pimpernel,
bugle, bluebell, cranesbill, speedwell,
sea radish and birdsfoot trefoil, eyebright and thrift,
red campion and ramson, primrose and violet
and I can tell you that at the end of the rocky shore
in the cave of Ninian, bringer of Christianity
there were laid little wilted bunches of these flowers
along with crosses made of driftwood
tied with scraps of rope or fishing net,
and smooth pebbles left by pilgrims.
I cannot name for you all the women of that place
killed as witches or covenantors, but I can tell you
that among them were Helen Moorhead and Jean Thomson,
Agnes Comenes and Agnes Clerk, Elspeth Thomson and Elspeth
McEwen,
Margaret Clark, Margaret Wilson, Margaret Maclachlan,
Janet Dunn, Janet Corsone, Janet Callan, Janet McMurdoch,
Janet McKendrig and Janet McGowane
and I can tell you that perhaps a sister or a friend
of one of these accused slipped down Physgill Glen at dusk
and made her way to the cave, even then when pilgrimages
were banned, and made supplication to the saint
and brought for him a pebble and a handful of wildflowers
she’d gathered and whose names she knew by heart.
Elizabeth Burns has published Ophelia and other poems (Polygon) and The Gift of Light (diehard). A sequence, Poems from the life and art of Gwen John, is due from Galdragon Press in November 2003.
Page(s) 12
magazine list
- Features
- zines
- 10th Muse
- 14
- Acumen
- Agenda
- Ambit
- Angel Exhaust
- ARTEMISpoetry
- Atlas
- Blithe Spirit
- Borderlines
- Brando's hat
- Brittle Star
- Candelabrum
- Cannon's Mouth, The
- Chroma
- Coffee House, The
- Dream Catcher
- Equinox
- Erbacce
- Fabric
- Fire
- Floating Bear, The
- French Literary Review, The
- Frogmore Papers, The
- Global Tapestry
- Grosseteste Review
- Homeless Diamonds
- Interpreter's House, The
- Iota
- Journal, The
- Lamport Court
- London Magazine, The
- Magma
- Matchbox
- Matter
- Modern Poetry in Translation
- Monkey Kettle
- Moodswing
- Neon Highway
- New Welsh Review
- North, The
- Oasis
- Obsessed with pipework
- Orbis
- Oxford Poetry
- Painted, spoken
- Paper, The
- Pen Pusher Magazine
- Poetry Cornwall
- Poetry London
- Poetry London (1951)
- Poetry Nation
- Poetry Review, The
- Poetry Salzburg Review
- Poetry Scotland
- Poetry Wales
- Private Tutor
- Purple Patch
- Quarto
- Rain Dog
- Reach Poetry
- Review, The
- Rialto, The
- Second Aeon
- Seventh Quarry, The
- Shearsman
- Smiths Knoll
- Smoke
- South
- Staple
- Strange Faeces
- Tabla Book of New Verse, The
- Thumbscrew
- Tolling Elves
- Ugly Tree, The
- Weyfarers
- Wolf, The
- Yellow Crane, The