Portfolio 2007

Scatness & Horse Island, Shetland, Scotland

17th February 2006

The Moder-dy
Bearing our lives in the old way by sun
and stars in the night
and the ‘mother-wave’
surging homeward
whatever the wind.

On the seventh wave of a run
comes this older
drift to the land.
Swing the ship to its line,
(they said) and you live.

I’ve heard of fisherman winning home
that way; but running before a storm
you’d need ear eyes
to sound a home wave,
see a mother in water.

An old art is lost now.
Decca provides
a signal as safe, as sure
as machine. They will win
to their women, and touch
as on screens, and tell them:
‘I don’t know
how the old folk ever managed.’

In the open haaf only,
the great sea journey,
the waves at their height,
one in seven
I kept watching -
one in seven
may be the Moder-dy.

(Robin Munro)

 

Technical details

Nikon D2X, 12-24mm lens @ 12mm, 1/8s at f/16 ISO100, Lee 0.6ND hard grad filter.