The Day

For the first time in my life I took part in a march on the 28th July.I felt it was time to stand and be counted.  It was an inspiring experience…

The Day 

The day came and the rain left

and the flags fluttered on the heads

of those who stood to be counted;

those who walked the miles;

those whose true smiles

curdled the faces of 

twisted union-jackery

and left it fearful.

The day came and with it

the indignation born of bitter history,

and years of ‘Do what you’re told

and don’t dare question’,

burgeoning joyfully into 

‘This is our land and

we are no longer cowed;

we’re proud!’.

The day came with words of hope.

“The Highlanders have mobilised”, 

she said, and the echo of the cheers 

roared its defiance into 

the distant, stifled halls

– that place too steeped in 

entitlement to see it’s crumbling –

and shook the cobwebs of contempt.

The day came and it went, 

with weariness of foot and

the tiredness of tramping

hostile or indifferent roads

made light by the strength

of kinship and gathering,

and the power of a vision

– a shared vision of 

a country rising.

The day came and the beating 

of fourteen thousand hearts,

soaring out of subjugation,

drags reluctance from the 

pit of propaganda and

says to those who doubt, 

“Join us and be proud;

the Day is surely coming!”

© Elfstone   31/7/18