The Magicians of Scotland

by Ron Butlin

  Scottish Independence As Seen From Above Edinburgh Castle

  Standing an inch or two above Edinburgh Castle

  I touch the sky for luck

  (well, who wouldn’t?)

  and come away with history

  smeared on my fingers.

  Seems like Scottish history.

  Hmm …, tastes like it, too!

  With nowhere else to go, is this

  where Scotland’s past has ended up –

  leaving us stranded in mid-air?

  The wind’s much stronger here, forever

  blowing us a few days forwards,

  a few days back.

  Days, months, years …

  One unexpected gust –

  and we’ve been carried deep

  into a Scottish Ice Age.

  Our country’s frozen into place

  beneath us, preserved

  in a centuries-thick glacier.

  What now?

  Should we wait until a tell-tale crack

  opens at our feet, as if by magic?

  Should we enjoy ourselves, get scarfed

  and bunnetted to go sliding

  Wheeeeeeee …

  into the future?

  One thing’s for certain –

  thanks to global warming we’re sure to fall

  back down to earth … and soon.

  We’ll have time to spread our wings?

  To cross our fingers before

  we hit the ground?

  Prayer

  When I reach the centre of the earth

  let there be someone with me.

  Each of us must bear the world’s weight,

  but not alone.

  So when I return at last to this same hour

  and this same place,

  let there be someone raising even

  the emptiness in their hands

  towards me.

  Note on the type

  The Magicians of Scotland is set in

  mvb Verdigris – a typeface designed

  by Mark van Bronkhorst. It is a

  Garalde text family for the digital

  age and is inspired by work of

  16th-century punchcutters Robert

  Granjon, Hendrik van den Keere

  and Pierre Haultin.