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Dat trickster sun
Dat trickster sun - Christine De Luca
A poem in Shetlandic, ostensibly about tricks of light; reflected light on glass; double rainbows with the magical reversal of the order of the colours. But it's also about emotional extremities, confusions and transcendence. 'Tizin' means tempting, alluring; 'cringed', tethered closely together; hubbleskyu, an uproar and a 'slow air' is a gentle melody.
Dat trickster sun
… ee day he fills your window wi shaeps
o laands at you could mak your ain:
islands beyond islands, draemscapes
you could aa but map: a refrain o
licht troo a peen o gless; incongruities,
tizin places you’ll nivver win tae.
You’re stuck i da here an noo;
der oot o rekk, maist lik infinity.
… ee day he tirls a rainbow deep intil
anidder een. Cringed, dey rin wi you.
You could aa but lay a haand ap? dem,
licht troo silence: a holy hubbelskyu,
da foo spectrum o taer-draps; a slow air
ta turn you inside oot, ta brak a haert.
from Dat Trickster Sun: Poems (Mariscat Press, 2014), © Christine De Luca 2014, used by permission of the author