In the Spirit of National Poetry Month
30th Anniversary

I met Scottie in 2009, at the quiet beginning of Tuesday Morning Love, when the world felt wide, and the page felt like a bridge. Across the Atlantic—two kindred spirits, drawn not by proximity, but by light—we found each other in poetry and stayed. I found myself in his words; he found himself in mine. And from that moment, we walked alongside one another—through phone calls, emails, and the sacred exchange of unfinished verses becoming whole. This week, I honor my dear friend, my comrade, my mentor—Scott Hastie of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom, a master poet whose voice carried for over thirty years and still echoes beyond this world. We lost him on June 26, 2025, but yesterday, April 13th, he would have turned 72. Happy Divine Birthday, Scottie. You are missed. May the Gods dance endlessly around your light, just as your words continue to dance within us.

A quartet of Scott’s recent poems
All of which appear in his collection Threads

Graced

Graced with the chance
To be here,
Even if only fleetingly,
Embrace
Whatever comes your way
And, in so doing,
However enchanting
Any treasures
You uncover might be,
Their loss
Should never be your concern.

In this matter
Make your heart your queen
And follow her as faithfully
And bravely as you are able,
Just as swelling fruit
Hurries
Towards its own sweetness,
Shine whilst you can
Without fear,
For nothing is as inevitable
As it seems here.

No, not even the fissures
Of loss and decay
We are oft led to expect
In this temporal world.

Such is true joy’s
Absolute certainty.
Its slow-lit fuse
That burns holes
In the shabby shroud
Of death forever.

As we toil and spin

As we toil and spin,
Pause and gather in the stillness,
Whenever you are able.

Trusting that,
Time after time,
This might bind ever deeper
In your soul
And, one day,
Come gloriously to bear.

Otherwise how vain
A deceit
Is such constant distraction,
That leaks into everything
To spoil our chances.

And, in so doing,
Look how we fashion instead
A raw and unnecessarily restless
Sadness in our hearts.

For it is what it is,
This life,
No more and no less…
And everyday
It shines upon us
With a patience
That is inestimable.

So take heart from this
And simply surrender in moments,
As best you can,
Even if only in modest ripples
That gently caress
The shore of your dreams.

Here I am

Here I am,
As if to confound myself,
Just as I ever was.

Seemingly little more
Than an excited dervish,
Forever chasing shadows,
Knowing that,
Come what may,
Beauty will continue
To throng around me,
Till I am no more.

What was it I never told you?
For isn’t it true that,
Without fear,
We are capable of anything…

The smell of fresh rain,
Like gunpowder on the lawn,
Embellishes the day,
As the summer rips on.

And we can but wonder
As, flawless,
Early morning moisture,
Stranded on a leaf,
Glints in the sunshine.

The world watches
And waits for us, it seems…
As if to suggest tis best
To have an unquiet response
To the nature of things.

So drink deep of your sorrows,
Drink deep of your joy
And then love
And live restlessly
For as long
As the charged ache
In your spirit allows.

Lost Puppies

Lost puppies
We are no longer,
That’s for sure.

Since all that’s been and gone
And the very essence of you,
Left behind
In so many hearts,
Is never forgotten.

And, on a day such as this,
When your world is calm,
Full of warm smiles,
And your soul is at last
Let off its string,
One cannot help but sense,
For certain,
That all the love inside you
Comes from the best
Of those
You’ve known and loved
And those who came
And went before you too.

Sweet darlings!
Sweet youth!
All our hopes
Derive from just this.

So, show me the wonder
Of all you’ve seen so far,
Stretch the day to its limit,
And let us have no guilt
Left to waste for dreaming still.

Tuesday Morning Love, healing the heart one word at a time

“Be brave enough to never yearn, for that you cannot hold close in your heart forever. Tread lightly, cherish compassion, and live in the moment without fear.” – Scott Hastie