Ice on Loch Lomond a poem by Catriona Malan

(Photograph by Mike Taylor)
That was the winter the loch froze over
stealing reflections from the hills,
and laying its pale shawl on their shoulders.
Islands, feeling they were trapped,
huddled sullen in the cold as the wind
shaved the bracken of their skin.
But the postman skated that squeaking plain
sensing, beneath his blades,
The slow drift of sleeping powan,
bit icicles of breath from his moustache
hid red hands beneath his scarf and laughed
bit icicles of breath from his moustache
hid red hands beneath his scarf and laughed
later about how he had walked on water.
Catriona Malan
This section: Christmas Poems , Stories and Winter Tales, Seasonal Stories and Poems by Glasgow Writers, stories and poems, Writing, Writing for the Festive Season
Related Pages
- Circus Vegas Review at Silverburn
- tell it slant at Locavore
- Neon Dreaming at Glasgow Film Festival 2025 review by Pat Byrne
- Mistress Dispeller at Glasgow Film Festival review by Pat Byrne
- On Falling, Glasgow Film Festival 2025 review by Pat Byrne
- Tornado – Glasgow Film Festival 2025 review by Pat Byrne
- Transatlantic Sessions – Celtic Connections 2025 review by Pauline Keightley
- Dead Dog Beach by Paul Murdoch review by Mary Irvine
- Lake Street Dive at Old Fruitmarket Celtic Connections 2025
- Reciprocal Systems of Health in the Climate Era – Exhibition at Advanced Research Centre, University of Glasgow
- Blue Rose Code. John Martyn Tribute at Celtic Connections 2025
- Winter a poem by Nina Quigley
- Hallowe’en – A Bygone Theme by Pat Byrne
- Two Poems For Hallowe’en by Finola Scott
- Trick or Treat by Freya O’Neill
- Whispers from the Shadows
- Parcels – a poem by Basia Palka
- Story for Hallowe’en – The Denny Tank Ghost
- Hallowe’en by Georgina Edward
- The Nightway Man by Michael Tess