Coracle: Poems By Kenneth Steven

By Kenneth Steven

It was by coracle that the early Celts made journeys on the sea roads of their time. A coracle is a tiny vessel, yet it is sufficient to carry one soul on a whole voyage. This collection of poems is about voyages, both real and figurative; journeys of many kinds. It is about facing danger and doubt with faith - against all the odds.

• Language: English
• Publisher: SPCK
• Release date: Apr 17, 2014
• ISBN: 9780281072101

Kenneth Steven

Kenneth Steven is a successful poet, novelist and children’s writer who has published some 25 books. His BBC Radio 4 documentary on the island of St Kilda won him a Sony Award. His previous novel, The Well of the North Wind (SPCK, 2016), was a spiritual tale set on 6th-century Iona, whilst Beneath the Ice (Saraband, 2016) tells the story of the Arctic Sami people. He grew up in Highland Perthshire in the heart of Scotland, and now lives in Argyll on the country’s west coast; it’s these landscapes that have inspired the lion’s share of both his poetry and prose.

Book preview

First published in Great Britain in 2014

Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge

36 Causton Street

London SW1P 4ST

www.spckpublishing.co.uk

Copyright © Kenneth Steven 2014

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

SPCK does not necessarily endorse the individual views contained in its publications.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978–0–281–07209–5

eBook ISBN 978–0–281–07210–1

Typeset by Caroline Waldron, Wirral, Cheshire

eBook by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong

For Kristina,

with love

Contents

Acknowledgements

Coracle

Iona

Cloister

The Words

A Green Woodpecker

After the Storm

George

Horses

Calvinism

Easter Lilies

School

Patient

Punishment

A Kind of Coming Back

Pears

Moons

Otter

The Mid-March Frogs

Ted

Lapwings

Finlaggan

Leaving the Island

After All

Glenlyon

Glendalough

The Ghost Orchid

The Unfound

Two Wrens Dead

Dafydd

The Place Where Rivers Meet

Edith

The Chapel

Son

Ruanan

In the Monastery’s Last Days

Hallowe’en

Defining an Island

Way Out West

Enough

The Hermit’s Cell

Acknowledgements

Poems in this collection have previously appeared in the pages of the following outlets: Acumen, Causeway, Coracle, The Countryman, The Eildon Tree, Envoi, The Herald (Glasgow), Life and Work, Northwords Now, Poetry Ireland Review,