A question was asked

Earlier today, Allan Crosbie - our Head of English and an award winning poet - shared poems with us that were written by our S6 pupils around the time of the referendum on 19 September. I was astonished and delighted at the quality and the sophistication of what was produced. Here is one example from Roise, who is one of our Gaelic speakers.






A question was asked
A question was asked and with it came
antique scrawls on a small piece of paper,
an X to mark centuries of debate.
A lifetime of conflict in two empty squares.
People filed and people filled and still they could not hear

Dòchasach

Yet there came to light identity and understanding.
Grabbing the shovel we dug up roots
And asked about our heritage.
Who we are?

Screaming drunken choruses of flowers
Wearing skirts and called colours.
Dancing to nameless tunes.
Can we answer?

A question was asked and we forgot ourselves.
The wrong answer whimpered hope and we gave up.

I hear the whisper Dòchasach

A dying language,
An unidentified culture.

Our colours are fading
As Hume watches with his fluorescent hat
And people curse the cobblestones.

I hear the fading Dòchasach.

By Roise Nic An Bheatha