from What If I Sang “Flower of Scotland”?
Catriona Strang
$5
Crash-tackle
Descendant of the last man
in the scrum, I would not
act alone along
the lines of this
well-rucked blood bin where
the Wolf finds his interests
under the pressure of ritualized
aggression: tenants and taxes
rocked, stung, yet still
at odds over the porridge oats
barrelling their way over
the line of touch. What if
the enclosing fences sang, almost as
venerable as waves
of complaint pouring
out of trains, an ungrounding
pulse-over on a mud heap
in heavy rain, this knock-on that
begins to permeate the working
class, sealed by the extraordinary
wealth accrued in the maul – tweed,
hosiery, knitwear, linen – passionate
and intense in the face of
a forward rush of toil
and fatigue, hunger and
peril: “Feet, Scotland,
Feet!”
published in Ottawa by above/ground press
January 2025
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy
cover artwork: Aoife McLennan
Catriona Strang is a first-generation settler of primarily Scottish heritage who lives on stolen xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ Lands. Her most recent publication is Unfuckable Lardass (Talonbooks, 2022). She is the author of five other books of poetry, several written in collaboration with the late Nancy Shaw, whose selected works, The Gorge, she edited (Talonbooks, 2017).
To order, send cheques (add $2 for postage; in US, add $3; outside North America, add $7) to: rob mclennan, 2423 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa ON K1H 7M9. E-transfer or PayPal at rob_mclennan (at) hotmail.com or the PayPal button at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com
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