we did nae see the monster
but of course, we were nae expecting to
Loch Ness was simply a site
we had tae see, monster or no
we wandered the kirkyard of St Stephen’s
crying names frae centuries past
peering through cracks in the stanes
tracing fingers along the Celtic crosses
we indulged in the increasingly traditional fare
of pizza an’ the best Indian food we’d ever had
an’ of course we rode aroon the loch
an’ visited cairns an’ castles grand
the sun did nae appear oft, no much
an’ e’en that was tae be expected
aye, the chill was there to tame us
an’ the road north to John o’ Groats beckoned
but for a few days I could wish for
nothing more than the roads of Inverness
an’ the certain knowledge that
whate’er else besides might await me
I was home again at last in Scotland
an’ the Highlands were ey mine
George Ellington 