Poetry
Frank McNie's Poems

I Traveled To The Highland Glens


I traveled to the Highland Glens 
To find my heart and soul
In between those Highland Bens 
That bell began to toll

For what this ringing in my heart?
I was born so far away
I sense I need to play a part
My soul has things to say

My people the fabric of this soil
Mingled in its way
With sweat and blood and endless toil
And heather blooms decay

My ancestors earned the right
To call this land their own
The tolling bell tells of their plight
From here their lives were strewn

Each Highlander forced to leave
Left a little something there 
Hills and glens were left to grieve 
The partnership's misfare

Every exile took with him a part
Of that which can't be seen
A little bit of this land's heart
Deep within their gene

Those genes spread out and multiplied
In lands so far away
Each generation since then cried
For what? they could not say

But here in those Highland Glens
I found my heart and soul
In between those Highland Bens
That bell began to toll.