“He was invited by my master Sibba … who lived near the river called the Tweed,
and came to his village with a company of people piously singing psalms and
hymns.’” – Anon. Life of St Cuthbert
Sing praise
wholehearted words
to the bright blessed graceful
salmon that is as wise as Himself
the salmon at the well of mercy
We meet on the joyful path. Created
word-wise, we delight to praise Him
in our own tongue, oft with joy-craft.*
Bless our swine, kine*, sheep
may they rest
grass-sated in leaf-shade of rowan.
Blithe
No boundary steppers* we,
mindful of our covenant with the Rune Man*
we bless you otter, gliding, mud wrestling,
wild goats skipping on the hills
Be healthy Walker-weaver*,
Be healthy Leaf-worm*
As day’s eye* petals bloom, open to the peace candle*
we offer Sib-love, truth love of friends and un-friends alike
Let all unfriended people come, we will share.
Heart love, bee bread, meat.
Old English words: joy-craft = music; kine = cattle; boundary stepper = from Beowulf, applied to those who transgress; the Rune Man = one who can decipher mysteries, here in capital letters applied to God; walker-weaver = spider; leaf-worm = caterpillar; day’s eye = daisy; peace candle = sun; bee bread = honeycomb; meat – any food.
Originally published in Amethyst Review, March 2023
Inspired while teaching religious attitudes to animals and the environment in Religious Studies, Barbara Usher now cares for retired ewes who bring their lambs at foot, and ex-commercial hens on her eight-acre animal sanctuary, Noah’s Arcs. Her poetry has been published in Borderlands: an Anthology, Amethyst Review, Dreich, Green Ink Poetry, Last Leaves, Last Stanza, Liennekjournal, and in the anthology Thin Places, Sacred Spaces (ed. Sarah Law). Her work appeared on the Resilience soundscape 2022 for Live Borders, with background accompaniment of her (late) pigs. She writes mainly on Celtic saints, farmed animals, and her adopted local areas of the Borders, and Fife in Scotland. She is now the representative for the Fife Stanza of the Poetry Society.