It was a very grey holiday, there were some bits of bright blue sky and sunlight reflecting on the freshly fallen snow but the background theme and feeling was a dreary dismal dullness of the darkness felt too long, and the sludge and slush of snow left to linger after a cold and brilliant winter.
We went to Leith -one of my dad’s favourite songs is sunshine on Leith by the Proclaimers and I wrote about it once in They Sing For Him. So we took a winter trip to see the sunshine in Leith. It is a suburb of Edinburgh on the coast and this is what mesmerised me most, the fact that it was on the coast. I had been to Edinburgh several times to the Castle and the sights and never really thought of it as being coastal. The architecture was grey and mesmerising, It was like waking up in a different time and a different place, a truly dystopian setting. It had its own unique beauty.
Shapeshifter sky
Solitary crocus speaks
Winter’s dirge recedes.
©Alison Jean Hankinson.
Chortle- been away too long- forgot to add the link. This is for d’Verse haibun Monday. Love to all.
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Hues of Hankinson 
The grey of a castle can be both beauty and dystopian… love it.
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Good observation: What’s grey can be mesmerizing and yet have its own beauty.
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I love the haiku! I’ve seen that square dystopian grey city scape you have described many times in different cities. Bt you are right, they often have their own beauty.
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Scotland is a shade of grey like nowhere else. It’s stark and very beautiful. As is your haibun.
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Oh YAY! I’m all for winter’s dirge receding. Enjoyed your visit to Leith!
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sludge and slush – truly a perfect example of “grey” and how we do yearn for light!
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You have a special eye to see a “unique beauty” in the grey dystopia.
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I love the gray buildings of the city in winter. Stark and gray they have a beautiful ambiance.
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Lovely piece. Thanks for reminding me of Leith – and the Proclaimers – woo hoo – makes me want to walk 500 miles (or so).
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Scotland is grey, but a special kind of grey, I think, Alison. I like the way you have evoked that in the prose: dreary dismal dullness of the darkness’ and ‘sludge and slush of snow left to linger’. I agree about the architecture being ‘grey and mesmerising’ and ‘a truly dystopian setting’. The haiku is superb with its ‘shapeshifter sky’ and ‘solitary crocus’!
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Good to see you! Lovely field trip and poem.
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‘winter’s dirge retreats’ I wish! I think Leith probably looks more inviting in the summer 🙂
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It still stole my heart….these bricks and stones and the hands that built them….
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I can imagine. A place isn’t just about architectural elegance or a sunny climate.
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That part of the world does ‘Big’ Grey like nowhere else.
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Your Loch had a great splash of colour- which Loch was it?
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Loch Shieldaig
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I was talking about Torridon area whilst we were up there, a beautiful area, I went there with some D of E students many years ago and have some fabulous memories of the place in very wintery conditions, I was fortunate and stayed at the youth hostel so at least had some creature comforts. I think it might well find itself back on the places to visit again list.
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Breathtaking spot to visit and hang out. I love it there.
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You’ve described a place I’d love to visit. The dystopian gray sounds alluring. Love the ‘shapeshifter’ sky.
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Thank you Vivian….
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😊
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I have noticed that a lone crocus speaks more clearly and more poignantly than a cluster of crocuses. And I liked the shapeshifter sky. Nicely done.
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many thanks. XXX
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