William Soutar Award 2020

Ross MacKay’s poem was The William Soutar 2020 Over-18 award winner. The poem was voted into the shortlist via a public vote and was selected as the winning entry by head judge, Asif Khan who described it as “a wonderful blend of fable and nautical imagery, which was reminiscent of a devotional chaplet for this extraordinary moment in our life and time.”

The full text of the winning poem is below

WE CALLED HIM NOAH

I am on an ark. 
Bobbing on the ocean endless  
Friends are fathoms far away
Further than the boat shall sway
So alone we sit upon the sea
With only our cat upon my knee 

I am on an ark
There is no target destination
The tempest’s time has no duration
Land is promised or talk of it at least.  
Talk of it, always talk of it 
But the tempest twists and turns the tide 
And like a corkscrew we return
And it all begins again
Bobbing on an ocean endless 

I am on an ark
Wave after wave 
I am on an ark
Peak after peak 
I am on an ark 
We roll up the sails 
And baton down the hatches
But the leviathans jaw has endless snatches 
And 45,000 souls 
have become coral. 

I am on an ark 
But the cat on my lap has no interest in procreation
She sees no benefit in the recreation 
to start the worlds repopulation.
But my partner has a belly full of hope. 
We tether ourselves with love and rope 
And pray the storm will pass. 

I am on an ark
And I see rainbows everywhere
Painted on windows and submerged pavements 
Streaked through sapphire skies

We are on an ark
And my child, new, is in my arms
Tomorrow we will reach the land,
And start the world anew

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