Xylotheque, a library of trees, attached by wire, rather like the books in the Bodleian attached by chains. Each book contains a sliver of wood from one of the native Scottish trees. This charming installation is to be found under the seats of a special shelter in the Hidden Gardens, Glasgow - a shelter especially created for poetry recitals, in particular Japanese haiku.
Hidden Gardens, the Tramway, Glasgow
It rained. Of course, it rained. It was Glasgow in spring. But it was only a light pattering in the birch, branches swaying. The sound of an occasional train hooting and swooshing by and the jingle of an ice-cream van now and then to remind us we were not in the Highlands hidden in a birch forest with waterfalls and perhaps a loch glimpsed through the leaves but in a transformed area beside the converted Tramway.
We stood by the wooden xylotheque structure, mentioned above. Enough room for a few people to shelter whilst the rest of us dripped under umbrellas or hoods. We were there to hear a series of haiku composed by Alec Finlay and Ken Cockburn on a commemorative trip they made around Scotland last year, to honour the trip Basho made many centuries ago in his 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North' in Japan. Fuji might be represented by a similarly iconic Scottish mountain, a famous view in Japan represented by another here, or personal incidents echoed here such as a poem about glimpsing Boreray, one of the St Kildan archipelago which they never visited to parallel an island similarly glimpsed but never reached by Basho.
Larry Butler, Angus Reid, Colin Will and others had also contributed haiku from their visits throughout the year and the results were read along with Ken and Alec's, the whole event started atmospherically by the lilting Eriskay Love Song sung beautifully in Gaelic by Margaret Bennett.
Margaret Bennett
Alec Finlay, Mr Masataka Tarahara, Consul General for Japan, and his wife and Ken Cockburn(reading)
One of the highlights for me was the contribution made by the Consul General for Japan in Edinburgh, Mr Masataka Tarahara, who came over for the event. He explained how there are many affinities between Scotland and Japan: love of mountains and lakes/lochs, also both countires have four seasons and many, many ruined castles. He then proceeded to sing a haunting song in Japanese. The theme was that castles have their day of splendour and then fall into decay - as do humans! Ah, that old theme.
After the reading, people were encouraged to compose their own haiku inspired by the setting, write them on labels and tie them to the tree. Ken told me often the ink fades and only the labels are left, then they too eventually deteriorate and return to nature. Biodegradable, so not litter then.
To read the poems, see http://theroad-north.blogspot.com
and Ken's blog: http://www.kencockburn.co.uk
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