Beerit here aneath the clay
Ma bittie bane has hud its day
Ma bairnies teem oot ower the earth
Fae oot ma wame they hud their birth.
Gorillas roamin through the gloamin
Peelin fruit on the grassy plains.
Orang-utans wi orange airms
Swingin slow ablow the trees.
Rattlin yatterin chimpanzees.
As ye are noo, sae wis I aince.
Whaur are ye noo, Neanderthal bairn?
The snaw and ice ye cawed yer hame
Meltit lang syne, and likewise ye
Are dust ev noo alang wi me.
Ma billion bairnies mind me nane
Ah never even hud a name
Ah gaithered an hunted,
Speechlessly grunted.
Ablow the glaur ev noo yet linger
A bittie tooth, an index finger.
Mind you! The bruckle flesh is rotten,
Yet Ah’m urnae quite forgotten
Ma youngest bairnies, baldy-backit,
Teeterin heich an spurtle-leggit
Through the glaur.wi trowel an ladle
Ae day they’ll howk me oot ma cradle.
Reverently waash me, sift me,
Learnedly discuss me, dust me
Lovinly label me, DNA test me
Tak me hame wi them, claim me their ain.
Mary McCabe 