Build me a bridge to my neighbour’s house

Here's an Iain Crichton Smith favourite verse:


Neighbour

Build me a bridge over the stream
to my neighbour’s house
where he is standing in dungarees
in the fresh morning.

O ring of snowdrops
spread wherever you want
and you also blackbird
sing across the fences.

My neighbour, if the rain falls on you,
let it fall on me also
from the same black cloud
that does not recognise gates.

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Iain Crichton Smith (1928 - 1998)

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