Maiters o Importance

by Donald Adamson

A cannae mind o the war. 
Still there’s things A ken, like 
at hame we hud tatties frae oor yaird
and eggs frae oor ain hens:
mebbe there wis just aboot enough
but naethin mair.

Tae oor bit wis sent preesoners 
o war tae help wi howkin: like Carmello
that missed his ain bambini 
and made a fuss o me
while Wilhelm barely said aucht
but efterwards wis mindit: ‘A grand worker’.

A mind o names, neebors and relations
and try tae guess at whit wis gaun roon
their heids, tae win an inklin o their thochts:
frienships, faains-oot and whae-kens-whit,
as important as the war, gettin on
or else no, wi the next hoose alang –

aa passed intae time, and left wi me
as voices, tones, speakin guid or ill,
sindered frae their source, like whan ye see
a field wi hanks o wool
hingin frae barbed wire, but wi nae soun
sauf the souch o gress, the yowes are gane.