The glitter o the frost
aneath the lamplicht
and mysel a bairn
rinnin throu the cauld,
throu the bricht dairk
alive wi crystals,
the brief diamonds:
the sense o it,
that feeling,
the sheer exultant
love o aliveness
nae matter whit.
In the transient glamour
o that chilled moment
there it wis,
the godheid, the poetry,
the loss, the bravura,
and there it bides,
(tho I shauchle a bittie,
bemoan whiles
the trauchle o the darg)
the affen-rypit
inexhaustible
glorious communion
that’s only the briefness
o the glitter o frost
on ae cauld nicht
and a laddie rinnin,
rinnin and rinnin
throu jubilant brilliance
intil a distance
that never wis.

Raymond Vettese

poem of the month was selected by the Scottish Poetry Library.