Courtesy of John Blower/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED).
Read and listen to the poem in Shetlandic Scottish below. Scroll down to read the modern English translation.
faddom du dis fur me
da lies o da feddir
maunna makk
da sun stop burnin
run oot o fingirs
and du’ll wakk intae taes
wi’r aa riggit oot
fur da biggest gaem
du nivvir hed a chance in
we come ta lippin
green girse
wi da shadoos
maddenin da brunt lugs
whit geengs doon
maun come back up agien
but on whitna tide
on whitna shore
wha can keen?
afore da sun slips
hit’s grip apö de life
drap da teddir
o de five heukit line
an see whit faddom
fins de
geddir pollen whan da sun
is high as a peerie boy’s
windblaan kite taen
bi de fierce tap wind
abön da laevriks
dat fu o blue truth
du could turn a supertanker
i da spaes atween his lugs
an his moo
dir wan tree rötit
i da blue high sky
sall du crop da boo’s
whicht licht da day
or lat hit bide?
fathoms
you fathom this for me
the lies of the father
must not make
the sun stop burning
run out of fingers
and you’ll walk into toes
we’re all dressed up
for the biggest game
you never had a chance in
we come to expect
green grass
with the shadows
maddening the burnt ears
what goes down
must come back up again
but on which tide
on which shore
who can know?
before the sun slips
it’s grip on your life
drop the tether
of your five hooked line
and see what fathom
finds you
gather pollen when the sun
is high as a little boy’s
windblown kite taken
by the fierce top wind
above the skylarks
so full of blue truth
you could turn a supertanker
in the space between his ears
and his mouth
there’s one tree rooted
in the blue high sky
shall you crop the bough’s
white light today
or let it stay?