We stand upon this earthen
mound, volcanic rock
its heat long cooled.
Before us Ochils roll along their line
behind us graveyard stones in strata
and the Forth curls shining into distance.
Castle closed, city hushed.
Underneath our fingertips
this wall crumbles.
Take a step out of time.
Feel layers of history swell below our feet.
Watch the rain fall, catch drops
on our tongues and taste the sky.
Feel stories wash away down cobbled streets.
Stand tall on the hill with heroes and fools
against the pull of gravity.
Open and stretch to the furthest
reaches of that horizon
and return with nothing
but the memory of notes playing
the breath of a crowd
vibrating like the skin of a drum
Feel what thrums beneath
the silence between.
It tells us we are alive.
It tells us
we are
one.