crann

the tree was a mast

the boat a crucible of wood
made for ocean and for earth

the tree that plank by plank
gave its limbs to water
and hollowed out the sea

the boat that sailed
the wind that sailed it
on water that was rain
that fell upon the earth

the earth that fed
the tree that grew
the wood that felled
would build the boat

the boat that sank
and filled with mud
still grew the tree

the tree that lived
in clinkered earth

the tree that was a mast

© BH, 2026

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I found the boat by a hide on the shore of Spynie Loch. Nice day, nice photo, a curiosity. Then I had an urge to use photos I’d taken of such things as a poetic staring point. That and another urge to get some short poems written because I’m behind on my ‘One Piece A Week’ schedule.

Ho hum. Whilst there’s a sense of ‘never mind the quality, feel the width’ about all that, I think it might actually work. Just consider, you can’t start with the bugbears of the day when doing this. You could be dealing with a photo that’s years old, memory impinges, other atmospheres, thoughts… Of course, the here-and-now is never far away but it’s in a different frame. The words themselves fall differently.

All to the good…

The title, by the way, is taken from the Gaelic, crann’ meaning ‘mast’ or ‘cross’.