A warmer wind
Nine seagulls on sentry duty
On top of the ferryboat docking posts
Out in the sound
Past the buoys and the markers
Beyond the Shiants and the planned fish-farms
A warmer water
More suited to dolphins and whales
Soaked in the dreams of human pastimes
Framed for the canvas
Stilled by the paintbrush, or camera
Settled by the slower words, with irregular verse
Eighteen months later Willie emailed me to say the campaign had been successful and that planning permission for the fish farm had been refused