Bathgate Hills in Lockdown

by Michael Stephenson

This past year, my steps
have pressed these paths
deeper into the hillside
and deeper into myself,
taking me back to Witchcraig
and Cairnpapple, back
to the top of Cockleroy
where the world opens out in every direction.

I’ll watch the light changing
on the Firth of Forth, and remember
coming here while they built the new bridge –
first the three crosses upright in the water,
then the beams and cables
reaching towards each other,
reaching towards the day
when, at long last, they could touch.