for J.D.Gomersall]

The ghaistly dancers starred abeen
The crescent o the sickle meen,
Slide sounless roun a seamless cave,
Swingin their lanterns ower the lave.

Flickerin patterns on a waa,
Ilk solitary, birlin baa,
The Nocturne-spheres glide silently,
A Life-in-Daith periphery.

Thon chalk-faced pierrots, aybydan,
Maun furl the wheel they hae bin set;
Sae ilkie microcosmic man,
Sma star, does ape the heavens yet.

Betimes we meet, betimes we pairt,
Phantasmagoria o bluid;
Ilk individual mind an hairt,
Grows separately, as a reed

That makks a music o the air,
Narcissus-like, an ay maun fear
The sangless win, ascendent stair,
The void o unity draw near;
An winna ain the river's course,
Rins iver sweetest at its source.