SUCH everyday occurrences as a ship docking neatly, or a sash window being repaired, are the inspiration of Sheila Templeton’s gentle celebration of craftsmanship and the men who wield it in their working lives. The poem comes from Gaitherin, Templeton’s latest collection (Red Squirrel Press, £10). She writes with equal ease and humanity in both the Scots of her childhood and in English, as here.
DOCKING
The ferry engines stop, allowing
only momentum to edge it in.
I hang over the railing, watching
as each fender is matched
to its squashy maroon twin
close as a kiss.
Such exquisite precision.
And here comes the gang-way,
easing up slowly, slowly
until two giant hooks
can be wrestled, clunked into place.
Boat and land bridged again.
Cal-Mac workers just doing their job.
Seven more times today
they’ll bring her home, find their mark
like my grandfather once
fixing a broken sash.
Look here, he said. Once I take that out
we’ll see the joiner’s mark. He’ll have left his mark.
And there, over a century old
Clear inside the window frame – a pencil line.
Conversation between two masters.
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