Poet Nicola Geddes who yearns to return to Scotland writes love letter to country

Nicola Geddes is just one of many Scots abroad unable to see their friends and family as a result of the travel restrictions.

She lives with her Scots husband and 18-year-old daughter in Ireland but says she has never felt so far away. This hit home hard when Geddes realised she would be

unable to be with her mother for her 80th birthday next month, prompting her to write the poem.

As well as describing her love for Scotland, it also wonders whether it is time for the country to reconsider its sovereignty and points out that the borders around both Ireland and Scotland are changing.

Although she has lived in the Galway area for the last 25 years, Geddes is used to popping back regularly and never considered she was far away until now.

“I have always felt just ‘down the road’ but now I am aware of just how far ‘down the road’ is where there are borders and a pandemic,” she told the Sunday National.

While she believes the travel restrictions are necessary, she said the enforced separation is something she is having to come to terms with.

“It is such a mix of feelings to be unable to come to Scotland. Not knowing when you will be able to is really hard. It just leaves you with an expanse of emptiness and uncertainty,” said Geddes, who is originally from Glasgow.

A cello player and tutor, Geddes has also found success in recent years as a poet and writer, winning the Irish Times New Irish Writing award in 2019. Her poems have been broadcast on Lyric FM in Ireland and on Swiss national television and can be found in the recent anthologies Children Of The Nation (Culture Matters) and Writing Home (Dedalus Press).

“The Writing Home anthology is from new Irish poets and is

really interesting with the perspectives of people from all over the world who have moved into the country,” said Geddes.

“The quality of the writing is excellent but in Ireland there are groups of talented writers, poets and poetry presses all over the country. There is a real cultural renaissance here and I think Scotland will experience that in its own way when it becomes independent.”

Are you inspired to write a poem dedicated to your love of Scotland? Send us your contributions to letters@thenational.scot with “I love Scotland” in the subject field and we’ll print the best ones

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Letter to Scotland

It’s been such a long time. I remind myself that we aren’t really apart, as we are each a part of the other, and sometimes that’s enough.

You are there, aren’t you, every time I open my mouth, my voice formed and coloured by your biggest city. And in my words, even now; you sneak into my sentences to amuse my friends and baffle my students.

You are in my bones, in the structures of my life. I work, and teach, in gratitude for all I learned at your three hilltop schools.

Once, what separated us seemed so little – a green island and the Irish Sea.

But now all things bow to the virus. We do not know what our breath can do. The very air that connects, now frightens and threatens us. Even time moves differently. We hunker down, wait for safety, as months grow into years.

I take heart in the knowledge that the reign of this virus will end, but all these intense and quiet days are self-reflective. I wonder about my status within my status quo.

I wonder if, like you, Scotland, the time may be approaching to reconsider my sovereignty. The borders around us both are changing.

Where do we find the faith we need for the leap? Within us, and all around us. See the dark waters of Little Loch Broom transformed into sparkling phosphorescence by the pull of an oar. And above us, the Pleiades- not just a pale smudge on the night sky, but look longer, closer and it will reveal the splendour of its countless stars.

When we look up from our small world, we realise that we can all shine – independent and interconnected. When we look deep into the darkness, we find hope.

Sending you my love, as always and for ever

Your daughter Nicola