David Bleiman is an Embra based poet, screivin in English, Scots an a wee bit Spanish, Yiddish an the Scots-Yiddish dialect which won him the Sangschaw prize 2020 for "The Trebbler's Tale". In 2022 he won the McCash prize wi "Ma Makaronic Manifest". His pamphlets, "This Kilt of Many Colours" and "Gathering Light: A Cramond Causeway" are available from https://poetrykilt.bigcartel.com/

The Snaws o Yestreen

Mais o sont les neiges d'antan?  (Franois Villon) 

Snaw, snaw, haud awa,
affa dyke an affa wa,
whaur are the snaws o lang afore?

Lang syne in Fair-a-Fa
twa craws sat on a wa,
haein a clish-clash, haein a jaw,
the day was blashie, rowstie raw
an washed awa the muckle snaw.

Snaw, snaw, haud awa,
affa dyke an affa wa,
whaur are the snaws o lang afore?

Whaurs the hen in the foxs maw?
Whaurs thon laddie gane tae war?
An whaurs the print o the deid dugs paw?
A bairnie thraws a weet snawbaw,
baith thon craws flichter awa.

Snaw, snaw, gane awa,
affa dyke an affa wa,
whaur are the snaws o lang afore?

A saw them here the day afore,
theyre baith awa, they shot the craw,
but in the wind, the north winds blaw,
A feel the spit o comin snaw.

(Highly Commended, James McCash Scots Poetry Competition 2021)