Poem: Fa we are
4 May 2020
My personal love letter to the North East, in Doric, of course!
"It’s recht fine tae ging awa
bit there’s nithin like comin back
we unser the call o the land whisperin
ye’ve been awa too lang
mon hame quine
come awa ma loon
the North East is fa ye are
an we are
hame
tied igither fae mountain tae sea
we are the colour o autumn leaves
an athing in atween
we are rich in beauty
we're the mooth o the Don
the length o the Dee
swans nestin in the reeds
we are pink footed geese
gettin fat on spilt grain
we are
the first spit o rain
the salt tang o the air
we are the cry o the cormorant
on oor shallow coasts
the sand in oor dunes
oor lungs hud the roar o the waves
and we are winter’s breath
the clang o industry an energy
engines o ships comin in
wae a guid haul tae sell
we are the cauld o the fishhoose
an the shelter o the harbour in a storm
we are
dreich days an the kiss o summer
we’re shards o sunlecht
brakin through the clouds
we are spring buds risin up
willin ti grow
soft as petals
tough as granite
we are
teuchters and toonsers
fermers and fishers, bobbies
an roughy toughy North Sea tigers
we are
poets, duncers, musicians
film makkers, teachers
and aa manner o things
but we are mare than fit we dee
we are
oor faithers an mithers an femily an freens
we are the city an shire
an athing we admire in ithers
we’re assets and defects dein oor best
we are aa jist tryin tae scrape by
tae suss oot oor place
we are
a meltin pot o folk fae ahwy
we’re aa airchie’s bairns
so welcome, mon in
find yersel a shell that fits
an mak it yer ain
We are the North East
an this is oor hame, your hame
we are
Hame."
By Jo Gilbert
Fa We Are started out as a commission for a film, shown at the first Across the Grain Festival. The film makers had recorded scenes and sounds from the Fishmarket and Harbour at Peterhead, Strathbeg Nature Reserve and Deeside. I was really nervous to begin with as the brief was just to write some spoken word that would tie everything in the film together, so I wasn't sure where to go with it at first. They sent me a rough cut of the film and I began jotting down things that popped into my head as I watched. Eventually, with lots of editing, Fa We Are was the end result. It's like my personal love letter to the North East, in Doric, of course. When I'm writing, some poems happen naturally in Doric and this was definitely one of those times. I have to get out of the way and let the poem become what it wants to be.
Read more on Jo's blog at www.talesfaethedoricside.wordpress.com.
Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire will wait for you, #ABDNwillwait #stayathome.
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