Gowk

Apryle cam an wi' it
thon heidsman, a gowk himself,
that, lang afore the month began,
had proved himsel mair o a gype
than ony gaen afore.

But poo'er an preevelege
went a wye tae sweeten the ile
he wad mak the lave o’s sup.

Then, as Mairch went wearin on,
seeckness took haud o aathin
an aa thon heid-anes dabb’t their een,
teem-heidt, gabb’t oot their wheen o salves,
nae muckle ees forbye, tae gar wis aa
dae as we was bid.

An Apryle, on its first dawn, liftet up
the sun an made gowks o’s aa:
every ane o’s walking twa yairds ahin,
hauns smellin o soap and speerit,
scarfes ower faces, hummel-doddies
thin aroon reed-raw fingers,

We’re aa feels noo,
or made so by a grandgore
in the lichts an hairt, steer’t oot
fae ill-sortit beasts somewye hine awa
an traivel’t a puckle thoosan mile
tae gie’s aa the smit.

Nae mair a ploy,
nae mair goamless madderin,
nae mair takkin the len o earnest bodies,
for a wee bit sport; noo the drowie days drag
on an we jouk fae the dread aneth the skin,
the dread we only ken ahin haun.

Thon wis Huntegowk, an we daunner’t on,
lauch’t at at ithers, gied them sair affront,
files the bird wis in oor nest beside’s,
the bird, mair a black an caa’in corbie,
yet gowklike, cowpin comfort ower the side
tae steal the byke an redd
its ain nestlin cruddles
abeen oor ain.

© BH, 2020

---

The Scots poet, Stuart Paterson, shared his poem, Hunt-i-gowk, for April Fools' Day and, in these ‘unprecedented times’, I responded this All Fools' Day nod to Covid-19. 

A week or so later, Poetry24 invited Covid-19 inspired poems after an initiative of Carol Ann Duffy’s as reported in The Guardian (here). The WRITE where your are NOW web page is here - https://www2.mmu.ac.uk/write/ I’ve shared it with that project in case it’s of interest. On reflection it’s a bit political. Critical of the great and the good. So, probably, no?

For Poetry24, I put an explanatory news item link at the end.

LINK: The Herald
Spotlight: where did April Fool's Day come from
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18342793.spotlight-april-fools-day-come/