Hermitage Castle | The Change

Hermitage Castle, Scotland, claimed by Elliotts as ours. Photo by David P. Elliot

there be bogles*
where she shivers
inside stone

ears scratch
in the night
for sounds

feet scrape
on rough rock
escape an impossible
longing ache

bean nighe* wails
scrubs blood
from tattered grave clothes

whiskey runs
in the burn* by the road
leave the wine alone

*”bogle” Scots term for ghost; “bean nighe” in Scots legend, announcer of death (anglicized from Irish as banshee); “burn” stream or small river

Burn by the road, Hermitage Water, photo by Sharon Elliott

The Change