[David Callin]

Part of our household lexicon,
like pullet, haggard, abertyre,
it snored in the middle of our farm,
comfortable in its fug.

There was no malice to it.
Once, when my father edged out on a ladder,
my sister having strayed in too far,
it gave her up quite easily.

The smell of the country, we learned to call it.
Somehow I think of liquorice,
as if I grew up in a liquorice factory,
kicking a ball among the vats.

It snored in the middle of our farm.
Little Muddy, Tiny Reekie,
our decaying omphalos,
hanging around like itself.

[Carl Copeland]

David, I love lines 3-5, but I’ll enjoy it all more after I’ve completed my research. My latest find is:

“Haggard n (Agriculture) (in Ireland and the Isle of Man) an enclosure beside a farmhouse in which crops are stored”

I also love “Little Muddy, Tiny Reekie”—apparently nicknames for the midden—and the omphalos, which, though I had to refresh my memory, is a word worth knowing (the pictures I found look so much like Hindu lingams!). Was your midden a mound, though? The story about your sister makes it sound more like a bed of quicksand.

I don’t get the last line.

[Joe Crocker]

Lots of argument in our family about when a compost heap becomes a midden. Grass, weeds and leaves obviously go in the compost heap, but what about potato peelings, rotten fruit, plate-scrapings, gone-off meat and dairy? The further down the list the more like a midden it becomes, the pongier the smell, and the happier the rats will be. I guess, this being a farm, your midden was a much more serious affair.

I really liked the last line, emphasising its undeniable, unmistakable, confident self.

[Roger Slater]

I learned several new words in my successful quest to enjoy the poem, though I haven't been able to find a definition for "abertyre" in all of Googledom. Still, I enjoyed the poem and learning the new words.

[RCL]

Terrific, David!

Related to abertyre?

abattoir (n.)
"slaughterhouse for cows," 1820, from French abattre in its literal sense "to beat down, knock down, slaughter" (see abate) + suffix -oir, corresponding to Latin -orium, indicating "place where" (see -ory).

[John Riley]

David, another one of your neat and charming poems. Well done. I like learning the words.

[W T Clark]

It's nice enough, David, which, I think, is the reaction I have had to the last few of your poems. You have developed a voice, a style: a kind of conversational interrogation of the small, messy accumulations of existence. But I do wonder what's the difference between having a voice and entering into a rut? CAN you write in a different style?

Hope this helps.

[David Callin]

Very glad you like it, Carl. I grew up thinking "haggard" must be spelled "hacket", because that's what we used to say.

The midden was a mound, but with a small lake / large pond-like area just below it - more treacle-like than watery, though. As you can probably imagine. We grew up thinking of it as very like quicksand.

There is a well-known phrase starting "hanging around like ...". That's what I was thinking of in the last line. I hoped it would do its own work, but maybe it isn't working.

It was a very serious affair, Joe - and quite substantial. Thanks!

Glad you enjoyed it, Roger. Apologies for misleading you with my phonetic rendering of "abertyre", which looks far too much like a Welsh town - I should have gone with "abbatyre" for my father's pronunciation (as Ralph guessed) of abbatoir. No French for him, thank you very much.

Well spotted, Ralph! Glad you like it.

And you too, John.

And you, Jim. I think I will find a place for this in a collection of my Manx poems, but I'm not sure it will bother posterity too much. Well, we shall see, but thanks for that kind thought.

It is a good point about the repeated line. I thought of it as a poetic stratagem, as used by Norman MacCaig in his terrific "Aunt Julia", but he does far more with his repeated line than I do, so perhaps I should just have it the once and find another line to go in there. So thanks for that too.

Originally Posted by Joe Crocker

Something about your description and the word "omphalos" makes me think of a benign, farting, Jabba The Hutt.

Now, I like that.

Oh Cameron. You little rascal. That is an interesting question, but I could just as reasonably put it to you, no?

Cheers all

David