Cáit O'Neill McCullagh
Cáit O'Neill McCullagh is a stray archaeologist. She lives in the Highlands of Scotland and until 2020 was co-producing films in Orkney and Shetland, exploring how maritime pasts can inform more possible futures. Since the pandemic unfurled, poems have been emerging from her. She composed them on her home-close stravaigs to the healing pool, pictured below.
Icarus' Sister
this happensin your myth-life you see a ploughfar below the starsit keeps a steady course and you train your eyesto the cleave of that furrowas you fall again, headward into the wild swim of regretand as your legs give way to flailingyou wonder - will you ever be the sun?
one who watches you speaks‘It’s time’ – they yearn for you for your wings to unfold, to open-up the burnished blade and expose that skin-close budwoodand then to graft across your back, and splay with the thread of your own silk chrysalisthe pinions that they say will be your freedom’
this turns the key to the lock of youyou gasp open, and your heart launches again, up into all the world’s sky to the very space that will make it shrinkas the stars cloud around youtears smart where the wind makes raw but you are giddy-soaked in spring-sapradiated with that fierce joy of sun and this is how you forgetand you do forgetthat like that rocket under your feetthe sun will also burn
one who watches you speaks‘It’s time’ – they yearn for you for your wings to unfold, to open-up the burnished blade and expose that skin-close budwoodand then to graft across your back, and splay with the thread of your own silk chrysalisthe pinions that they say will be your freedom’
this turns the key to the lock of youyou gasp open, and your heart launches again, up into all the world’s sky to the very space that will make it shrinkas the stars cloud around youtears smart where the wind makes raw but you are giddy-soaked in spring-sapradiated with that fierce joy of sun and this is how you forgetand you do forgetthat like that rocket under your feetthe sun will also burn
Rock, pool, and all the sky of the world to grace them
Na craobhan uisge aig an amar slànachaidh (the water trees at the healing pool)
