the four are fab
a river the width of a sea
imagine all the tourists
more selfies than observation
tourists
Calton Hill
Tourists face southward
New Parliament, old Palace
Cold volcano looms
Tourists face northward
Across the water Fife shines
Summer rain ends day
Edinburgh Springtime
Edinburgh springtime
T-shirts, sandals, sunglasses
Tourists in mufflers
St Andrew’s Square in the sun (2)
A woman with a night-black ponytail strides across the square, one arm cradling a ginger-headed baby, the other hand holding a parasol. The shade falls carefully on the babe. The woman squints as she passes the young boy crosslegged on the grass. His gaze, and face, follow the crane’s reaching sweep across the sky and he gently overbalances, a portrait of surprise. Now, lying on his back as the grass tickles his ear, he listens to the tick-ticking of the sculpture students chip-chipping at their stone. Tourists, each with two bags, stop heavily by the sculptors and smile. Their holiday is beginning.