Tuesday, 21 March 2023
Happy World Poetry Day! To celebrate, I'd like to share a poem I wrote just yesterday expressing my eternal gratitude that I'm able to call Orkney home. .
Narrative
For too long I was a pebble
among millions in the maelstrom
of humanity
A grain of sand on the beach of a
city carelessly kicked by passers-by
in a hurry
The cacophony of noise all around
that, like a discordant orchestra, disturbed
the senses
Serving bosses with oversized egos
doing tedious jobs with no satisfaction
performing .... always performing
A tragic clown of the workplace who wasn't
funny, marching to someone else's tune
disheartened and exhausted
The terror of the daily commute when normal
people could suddenly turn mad and hold a
knife to your throat
Time and money wasted going to a job that
didn't cover bills or afford a nice place to live
hours never regained
Too many years it was until I said "enough is
enough", too weary to care about the fallout
at home, no longer concerned
about those who said I was crazy and would
come to regret travelling north to a small
island they knew nothing about
If only they could see me now, those superior
know-it-alls who believed I wouldn't last —
but, it's not me who is delussional —
It's them. The arrogant who viewed themselves
as demi-gods, looking down on folk who didn't
share their blinkered, ill-informed views
Here I am — revelling in the land of Merry Dancers
where the food is good and hasn't travelled a million
miles, where the air is fresh and the views sublime
Where history and archaeology meld, where supreme
talent and storytelling exist side by side, where I am
grateful every day to feel safe and at home
©Carola Huttmann, 20th March 2023
