Scots poem of the month - March 2008

Sailmaker's Palm Fan he'd tak aff the palm, his haun was saft n' pale as a scallop. A big man, plain as a sail, slow ti shift, but fan change blawed its gale aboot the hoose, he widna shy fi it. Cookin wis never his forte but we hud ti eat, n'he kenned a boy on the boats wha wis aye gien him bits o fish he couldna refuse n'efter a while he could rustle up a dish or twa. Nae fancy stuff, tatties'n peas on the side. Talk? He wisnae a man for talk. Ah'd listen ti the radio, stick in at the schoolwork. Nae use there, he'd say'n stare at his hauns, his big pale hauns, beached on his knees. Ah'm nae use wi books. He'd rouse hissel ti search for the scissors, the needle'n threid, cursin softly unner his braith fit wey things aye gang AWOL fan yi need tham maist. Then he'd tak up the claith, cradle it lik a bairnie or a fish, fathom its wacht. He'd sip on a dram, n'tilt his worklamp till the licht shone ower the seersucker prented wi bluebells'n cornflooers. He'd cut, sip, stare at the black sea'n sew a new pair o breeks for his mitherless quine. Dilys Rose from Bodywork (Edinburgh: Luath Press, 2007) This poem won the 2006 McCash Prize. Poem supplied courtesy of the Scottish Poetry Library

The Inspiration for the Poem Dilys says: 'The inspiration for the poem came initially from seeing a sailmaker's palm in the maritime museum in Greenock when I was over there visiting a writers’ workshop. Further inspiration came from meeting a woman whose father had been a sailmaker and who had also hand-sewn her clothes.  The rest is invented.  I initially tried writing the poem in  English but it didn’t feel right for the place I  kept seeing in my head – the  wild, wonderful coastline due south of Aberdeen. The voice I based partly on somebody I know who grew up in the area . There are many influences on the way we speak and variations even in a single speaker and I was more interested in the  feel of the language and what it migh evoke  rather than in  technical veracity. Who knows when she’s telling us about her father? Who knows where she has travelled to since her childhood?'

About the Poet Dilys Rose lives in Edinburgh. She writes mostly poetry and fiction. She has published ten books,  most recently Lord of Illusions(2005) and Bodywork (2007). She also enjoys working with visual artists and composers. Collaborations include fictional miniatures for Once upon our time: new portrait miniatures by Moyna Flannigan, 2004, and librettos for Helter Skelter (music theatre piece composed by Stephen Deazley) and for Hauser, a chamber opera composed by Rory Boyle. She has received various awards for her work, most recently a UNESCO/City of Literature Exchange Fellowship in 2006 and, in the same year, the McCash prize for ‘Sailmaker’s Palm’.