I’m cheating a bit this week as the “poem” I have chosen isn’t a poem but a song. However it stands alone as poem. I heard it in a yoga class (run by my wonderful friend and new yoga teacher Alison) and was struck with the poetry of the language and the absolute beauty of the song. So much so that I have forced the entire house to listen to it, repeatedly, all week. Its fair to say that there are various levels of appreciation of its beauty amongst the household! The background to the song is explained here after the book that responds to the OED’s decision to remove lots of natural words from the children’s edition in 2007. I realised that we have the book too and so I have been reading this all week. The song isn’t a poem from the book but uses most of the “lost words”. If you get a chance, do listen to the song/watch the video too. I hope it gives you as much joy and pleasure as it has given me.
The Lost Words Blessing – The original song is by Julie Fowlis, Karine Polwart, Seckou Keita, Kris Drever, Rachel Newton, Beth Porter, Jim Molyneux, Kerry Andrew.
Enter the wild with care, my love
And speak the things you see
Let new names take and root and thrive and grow
And even as you travel far from heather, crag and river
May you like the little fisher, set the stream alight with glitter
May you enter like otter without falter into the water.
Look to the sky with care, my love
And speak the things you see
Let new names take and root and thrive and grow
And even as you journey on past dying stars exploding
Like the gilded one in flight, leave your little gifts of light
And in the dead of night my darling, find the gleaming eye of starling
Like the little aviator, sing your heart to all dark matter.
Walk through the world with care, my love
And sing the things you see
Let new names take and root and thrive and grow
And even as you stumble through machair sands eroding
Let the fern unfurl your grieving, let the heron still your breathing
Let the selkie swim you deeper, oh my little silver-seeker
Even as the hour grows bleaker, be the singer and the speaker,
And in the city and in forest, let the larks become your chorus
And even when all hope is gone, let the raven call you home.