With apologies to Rabbie B*, but Ae fond kiss, and then we sever; Ae fareweel, alas, for
ever, and isn’t it about time we did, too? Sever, that is.
When written by Burns in 1791, Scotland was already bedding
into this unequal union of crowns and parliaments. Well, we’ve stuck it. We tholed it for the sake of the kids, the
grand kids, and the next generations all the way from then til now.
We watched them grow up, join up, fight fights, help build and defend
the empire.
We watched the glens denuded of people then turned over to sheep.
We
cried when they left, and promised to write and maybe return, though we knew it
unlikely.
We shared our talented people, women and men in every field, in every
century. Poets, artists, actors, scientists, inventors, we shared them all.
Even the sporting arena: derided as Scottish
if (?) we lost but cleaved to the UK bosom when we win.
How ironic after all that, and that having fought hard and long to defeat
fascism and Nazism in mainland Europe the question of Europe is possibly the
final nail,
As a couple,.we’ve tried something
akin to counselling and listening to each other.
We’ve listened, been swayed even, but the sweet
nothings you murmur turn out to be just that: nothing! And after our last
attempt to leave in a dignified way, you made just one promise too many, and
all too many of your promises have been broken. .
You vowed to change for the sake of us both, and the
weans. You see the past has caught up with me, and I’m really worried about the
grandkids these days and their future.
And as for the debt, well, I think you’ll be hearing from
the lawyers over that one.
Income? When has there never been an income of one
sort or another? It’s the ability to work, create, diversify, find markets, and
when you buy, buy canny.
Do we really need a potentially dud bomb down the
road? Dud or not, I can see some crazy neighbour eyeing it, so perhaps you
could take that with you, too.
But then, maybe not since you have always tried
to get the best of the bargains, and it's well known you're always saying you don't have room.
Over
this long relationship, it's kind of been a one way one. We know we’ve done our bit, put in our share, but we've just
not seen sufficient divi-ing up on equal terms.,
And it's you who's forever saying we don’t pull
our weight, so let us go, don’t fight us any longer. We’ve already heard there’s
a new blonde overseas, eyeing you up, but.....
Don't worry about us, Do you really believe your other
alternative facts, that we we’ll end up ‘Johnny no mates’?
No, there’s plenty
of places, not too wee, brave enough, and with jingling money in their pockets that we can
learn from and share with.
Regrettably then, the time has come, to do it our way….sever and
forever.
* Happy Birthday, Robert!!
*If ever a poet understood the character of his nation, he was Robert Burns. The language he was most fluent in wasn’t so much Scots or English – it was the language of the heart. All too human in his personal life, he carried that humanity over onto the page. Nothing was too small or too large to escape his notice, from a mouse in the mud to God in his heavens. A poet for all seasons, Burns speaks to all, soul to soul..............Reference: http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/
* Happy Birthday, Robert!!
*If ever a poet understood the character of his nation, he was Robert Burns. The language he was most fluent in wasn’t so much Scots or English – it was the language of the heart. All too human in his personal life, he carried that humanity over onto the page. Nothing was too small or too large to escape his notice, from a mouse in the mud to God in his heavens. A poet for all seasons, Burns speaks to all, soul to soul..............Reference: http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/
