Slate, Sea and Sky: a Journey from Glasgow to the Isle of Luing by Norman Bissell was published in hardback by Luath Press in 2007 and reprinted in paperback with a new introduction and some additional poems in 2015. It features 32 outstanding black and white photographs by Oscar Marzaroli specially chosen to accompany the poems.
This striking combination of poems and photography offers a new soundscape and vision of Glasgow and of a land far beyond its busy streets. From the screech of buses to the crash of waves on a wild shore, the poems take us on a perceptive journey from the city to an island. They are beautifully illuminated by Oscar Marzaroli's stunning photographs of a changing Scotland in shade and light.
Na H’In Ban
Long hours he would sit in his cell
with the wind howling around him
enclosed by the walls he had built
tapering into the centre
the only light from two slatted holes
beamed into his blank space
his calloused hands told him
how thick those walls were
but he preferred it here
to the company of the other monks.
He had left the old land and the fishing
to get away from the distractions of others
and here on this rocky outpost
of the white martyrdom
he would not be changing his ways now
he still fished and farmed in order to live
and he would pray and sing with the rest of them
but most of his time was spent here in solitude
contemplating life and death
or up there on the ridge
with the gulls wheeling and crying above him
peering over that sheer drop
at the big surf
that came crashing in from the west.
This is what he had come for
just to be here
alone on a rugged isle
to live under that wide open sky
to watch the stars at night
and wonder at their wanderings
to be with all of this
and of all of this
is what he had come for
to this spare isle of the sea.
The first hardback edition of Slate, Sea and Sky has sold out but a signed and dedicated copy of the paperback is available for £9.99 + £1 postage & packing from Norman Bissell on the Shop page, from Luing Stores or from normanbissell@btinternet.com or tel. 01852 314322.
Slate, Sea And Sky
An island on the rim of the world
in that space between slate, sea and sky
where air and ocean currents
are plays of wild energy
and the light changes everything.
What other poets say about Slate, Sea and Sky:
'When I first read Norman Bissell's poems, one ordinarily harassed day in Glasgow, one of his meditations on city life made me laugh so much that I wrote it on a post-it note and stuck it to my wall. His poems are full of such lines: a calm voice that I want to carry away and keep in my mind's ear. I loved the place the poems took me to. Here is the voice of a poet who is grounded in place, at home in the world.' GERRIE FELLOWS, author of four poetry collections.
'Here, indeed, is the journey of a gentle man from city street to island shore, recounted in poems that will stay in the memory for a very long time. One of the main strengths of this collection is that the poems allow us to be part of the poet's journey and to share in his hard fought for arrival at his island destination.' GORDON MEADE, author of eight poetry collections.
'On his journey Norman Bissell takes a clear-eyed look at the world around us; celebrating people - and elements, rocks and minerals, birds, hills and waters as living things - with integrity, passion and compassion. His life is laid open for us with honesty, shedding light on what it is to be human in the search for what is.' GERRY LOOSE, Creative Scotland Award winning poet.
'There is lovely work here, limpid and light, a careful simplicity of line, open to the voices of the city and the calm, restorative spaces of nature.' CATHERINE LOCKERBIE, former Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
'Yesterday I read Norman Bissell 's 'Slate, Sea and Sky', and thoroughly enjoyed every word. A beautiful wee book, with so many poems and word pictures with which I can identify in my 'islandness'. Norman and I seem to write in parallel lines, though with different underlying philosophies. I am amazed at how closely I identify with his 'geopoetics'. In our perspectives, our parallel lines do meet. Many, many thanks, Norman. A beautiful little book, indeed.' DONALD MEEK, acclaimed Gaelic scholar and writer.
A review of one of his poetry readings can be read here.