Water & Stone

In the late summer of 2011 my partner Kate and I travelled to the Outer Hebrides. We called in at Holy Island, Edinburgh, Findhorn Foundation and Ullapool on our way from Lincolnshire. We crossed the dark waters to Stornoway by ferry, under a wet and windy sky. The captain told us it may be a rough and stormy crossing.

This was our first visit to these islands on the north-western outpost of the British Isles. We were in love as we travelled, and I think more in love when we returned home. The Hebrides though, with its weather, with its space, with its natural beauty, and with its intense isolation built up a significantly different meaning for the each of us. These poems I hope capture my side of the story. They are dedicated to Kate.