A house forlorn for forty years
Now it wins the prize
An artist made his home here
Revealed before our eyes
Rough grey walls a bright blue door
Grey blue slate above
Inside the labour of his years
Labours of his love
A croft it was on Lewis land
Away across the sea
Now we come to visit it
And marvel at what we see
Bleak at first it must have been
Cold and damp no doubt
Until the artist moving in
Reclaimed this bold redoubt
Is there not a lesson here
About my house my heart
Keep it warm and lived in
Every day a start
Brian Fahy
7 June 2022
+ Scotland’s ‘Home of the Year’ is New Tolsta on the Isle of Lewis. You can view it on the BBC Scotland website.
Erris Poetry 