Perhaps there simply was no tale
to return back to tell.
No birds, three parish over, with human faces,
no wolves with fingered hands
that had been taught our sign for beg,
for prayer, that might shiver in the cold.
No stricken towns – just village after village,
each with its slightly altered evening plate,
on and on; the word, its doggerel report.
One time I almost fell on something worth
giving this realm or road or route a name.
but didn’t.
I stopped at the step of local girl,
inclined by the rumour of what she offered.
Niall Campbell (b. 1984) from the Western Isles of Scotland graduated from St Andrews University in 2009 with an MLitt in Creative Writing. His first pamphlet is due to be released by Happenstance Press in 2012.