9.2.13

oystercatcher, trilleachan




ho-o ri bho  ho rinn eile  u-bhil u-bhil
ho-o ri bho  ho rinn eile  u-bhil u-bhil

trilleachan - - trilleachan
red-bill-red-bill

trilleachan - - trilleachan
red-bills-peeping

trilleachan - - trilleachan
red-leg - - red-leg

trilleachan - - trilleachan
red-legs-flitting


to & fro
at the edge
of the surge

shh - shh - sshhh
shh - shhh - sshhhh

in between waves
eddies & fluxus
forms fade
as you fetch us


as you take us
up-up - - up-up

as you rise
up-up - - up-up

as you full-fill
our eye-eyes

as you swell
our gaze

as your whistles
call & cut
cut & call
through the silence


kleep-kleep - - kleep-kleep
coming in to shore

kleep-kleep - - kleep-kleep
take us up-up

kleep-kleep - - kleep-kleep
swift wing us

kleep-kleep - - kleep-kleep
sound the alarm

kleep-kleep - - kleep-kleep
swing us along the divide

kleep-kleep - - kleep-kleep
back out to sea


trilleachan - - trilleachan

flight us to & fro
the black & white shore-
line of your
Atlantic markings

find the amplitude
of the surge

ward
the shingle strand

guard
the even sand

wade
out loud
calling in the tide


trilleachan - - trilleachan
tilt the compass

trilleachan - - trilleachan
will you - - will us

trilleachan - - trilleachan
will you - - rouse us

trilleachan - - trilleachan
induce us

trilleacham - - trilleacham
into strangeness

ho-o ri bho  ho rinn eile  u-bhil u-bhil





This poem is a draft composed in response to Hanna Tuulikki's collaborative project
for the isle of Canna, air falbh leis na h-eoinaway with the birds. The vocables are imitations of an oystercatcher, trilleachan, from a traditional Gaelic song; this and other examples form the basis of Tuulikki's composition.










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