A poem by Jim Carruth

Killochries

the church
a field

its windows
clouds passing  

its congregation 
slender elms

growing from 
psalms and grass

its choir
starling and lark 

its sermon  
the seasons

its gospel
gorse fire 

its prayers 
seed scattered

on an acre 
for God.

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Jim Carruth was born in Johnstone in 1963 and grew up on his family’s farm near Kilbarchan. After spending a period in Turkey he has returned to live in Renfrewshire. His poems have been widely published and anthologised and he was a prize winner in the 2003 Edinburgh Fringe poetry Festival. His first collection Bovine Pastoral was runner up in The Callum MacDonald Memorial Award in 2004 and his second collection High Auchensale is due out in November 2006.