Day Trip to Foresterhills

after Karlis Verdins

by Lydia Harris

She took to the air, flew above the flex of Hoy’s spine. Later, on land , when she was lost, a gentleman showed her the lift, said, ‘Hey, imagine you’re in Lidl, start at veg., pass meat and eggs, spin your wheels across the clean tiles and, Voila! She’s on the couch and Dr Shakel’s hair quivers
close to her cheek as he highlights the x-ray, as he pushes a probe up her nostril. She straightens the vine on her bag, sets her shoulders to the Cytologist’s room while the tendrils twist like needles. Drill, drill. Back in the city, she buys three bendy notebooks at The Flying Tiger. When she lifts off, like washing on a line, she breathes a huge breath over Scapa Flow, sweet-smelling and smooth. She’d like to record the woman in ‘Visit Aberdeen’ who said, ‘Sorted’, another woman on the 747 Award-Winning Bus, who told her about Wallace and rindless goats’ cheese. And lastly, the woman behind her in the queue who had difficult blood.