twenty five words for 2025
with stirling makar
Laura fyfe
Thanks to everyone who entered our twenty-five words for 2025 poetry project!
Your words inspired a collective poem by Stirling Makar Laura Fyfe celebrating Stirling’s rich culture and creative spirit; marking the city’s bid to become UK City of Culture 2025.
We hope you enjoy watching the poem video (above).
Read the poem in full below.
Kin Kennings
neither the snowy north
nor the rainy south
nor the brisk east
nor the windy west
but this well-weathered heart
sharp cliffs crumbling
spring-fed lochs
fertile green
land enfolded
by rising hills
dominated by what
the sky brings
we gather together
around one castle
stand steadfast in quiet
defiance, the wolf cry echoes
around the warps and wefts of streets
in village quiet, town hive,
city bustle, founded
on the dark solidity of coal
mined by dusty hands
there’s no limit to what we might
build with the boldness of stone
dykes, cobbles, wynds
the castle sill, warm like hearth,
like kin, like sunlight flecks
upon the skin
a moment, valiant in nostalgia
a painting hung still, its frame
richly gilded by history
loud in its knowledge of times
before, everchanging, ever
growing but its essence
endures
history floats past
the Teith to the Forth
under bridges, over sunshine
sparkling peaty pebbles
through calming lades,
and forest glimmers of green
tomorrows, in a looping silver ribbon
that meets itself
returning salmon flash, seal heads bob
heron flies over
robin song and red-squirrel dash
over mist lying in layers
over the carse, hills
breach into sunlight
quiet beauty
on the horizon
fresh air reaching to
freedom
to love and be loved
nourished, in hardship,
by the kindness of neighbours
a baby cries, a Rose
grows, roots sink,
a home settles, opens
to laughter from afar
the bloom of blossom trees
and the red flowered hawthorn
breath taken
when the weather
withers you stay
inside, you stay
with pride, happy knowing
adventures await
jam sandwiches and the tang of the angels
share the countryside, our
playground, ample time
to wander, exhale, live
sketch out pathways
footprint them into glens of memory
bike trail them into mountainous joy
paddle ripples in ice-watery peace
hold them close, by eye, by lens
instant portraits, landscapes
posted up and woven, through screens
streaming into the fabric of the world
welcoming strangers
never strangers for long
feel the buzz of the thump
of rounded leather, footballs
kicked on grass into goals
into castle rafters
behind glass
stretching legs
stretching minds, a flow
an outpouring of thoughts
rain of notes, catch them on your tongue
and taste the sighs
playing the breath of crowds
feet stomping, hands clapping
floors vibrating like the skin of drums
concerts on our streets
in carparks and fields
theatre on every doorstep, through
every window curtains open to stories
untold, journeys ready to unfold
new chapters, open books, words of
the people
always
the people
Stirling’s children, these
sons and daughters of the rock
sculpted with love, anchored safe
from our stronghold
we take flight into the future
firework flashbulb launch
of hope turning Scotland to the new,
from this, its well-weathered heart.
Kin Kennings, a collaborative poem by the people of Stirling to mark #Stirling2025.