2016.4 Dreich

This is a word culled straight from my childhood and the Scottish side of my family (my mum, in particular, really enjoyed using it). See below the poem for a definition...


This is a day for secrets;
We're taking bets on when
The rain will whistle,
Streak views and lose distances.
This stagnant air
Is nearly unbearable,
A pall of grey, echoless;
This is a day for secrets.

This is a day for screaming,
Screened from all under this
Drum-taut lid,
Busy with nothingness.
This stagnant breath
Beggars lung capacity,
Creaks ribs like whalebone;
This is a day for screaming.

This is a day for running,
An extended stumble,
Steady as quagmires,
A gyre of possibilities.
This stagnant earth
Clutches at its dearth
With undermining hands;
This is a day for running.

dreich

driːx/

adjective

SCOTTISH

1. (especially of weather) dreary; bleak.

   "a cold, dreich early April day

The view from my office today (a lot greyer earlier)