In Stone....

Today I went to the village of Garvald.
There are a few Garvalds in Scotland
and, unlike most of the other place names
around about Edinburgh that come from Welsh,
this is from the Gaelic, Garb Valt, which means
Rough Stream. The place I work for in Edinburgh
is also called Garvald and I like that; that I work
somewhere that is small and rough....

In the village of Garvald is a 12th century church
and in the graveyard is this astonishing stone.
And whatever had been recorded on the stone
has been completely worn away by the weather
but this sculpting survives....

And is like a tornado going round and round
my heart....

East Lothian is a place of exraordinary treasures;
of poetry and passion and philosophy and truth
and sadness and purest joy
celebrated by un-named geniuses
in stone....