Catchin Yer Eye

after Sappho an’ Catullus

How the fuck kin anyone dae whit he dis?
Jesus wept!  The divil disguised, ah’ll wager.
Seated facin you, fur the umpteenth time he
watches an’ hears ye

laughin sweetly.  Ahd iv been left a total
fuckin zombie.  Catchin yer eye, ah cannae
breathe; ah jist, like, flounder, a fish oan land, an’,
gaspin fur watter,

cannae speak.  A tinglin flame then trickles
doon ma limbs.  There’s suddenly this crescendo
buzz ae bagpipe drones in ma ears, an’ ma eyes are
plunged intae darkness.

Icy avalanches ae sweat run doon me.
Noo ahm shakin badly.  Ah turn a paler
green than grass an’ seem tae hiv only cheatit
death by a whisker.

Duncan Gillies MacLaurin

If you have any comments on this poem,  Duncan Gillies MacLaurin would be pleased to hear from you.