Stopping at a graveyard by Corgarff
we stumble on an oyster catcher
and its looping, fearless chick
Alarmed, its orange bill points at us
and its call comes loud and clear
like the calls of the clans
carved around us
The bird is up for a fight
and bonny too
Higher up, on the Lecht, beyond the castle
the watchers are unmoved
by armies from the south
No-one rises from the dead round here
Not now
Not yet