Oban Marina

The Marina on the northern part of the island of Kerrera in Oban Bay. Still faintly the snowy hills of Mull and Morvern show in the background. Lobster fisherman heading out. Not a cloud in the sky today.

There are two ferries to Kerrera, one from Oban to the Marina and the delicious seafood restaurant [might just have mentioned that before] and one - by summons only - from the Gallanach Road across the Sound of Kerrera to the south part of the island with its gorgeous walk to the castle and the castle farmhouse tearooms, well worth the effort. Tearooms generally punctuate my outings, rather well in most cases. It always feels like a privilege, landing on an island for a walk, a brief glimpse into another world.

Here's an excerpt from a longer poem about Kerrera. Apologies in advance, these things bring out the twee in me.

Kerrera

You guard
your portals,
ferries moored alongside
your boundary
crossing only when summoned,
counting the numbers
on and off again.
the quandary is
survival versus privacy.

You spill
sound
onto the silence of your day
as if that is the only way
nature claims
its ground.
the liquid song
of birds on the hill,
the lark?s
rising and falling
arpeggios
soothing the meadow.
the stream
bounds bubbling
into the bay.
the rapid pit pat
of the stonechat
leading us on
and away.

Sound pours
over the silence
which is not dumb anyway.
together they blend
and shift
and the curtain lifts
briefly
on another life
another day.

©sue2011