Neil Stewart McLeod

Sing me a song of fine old ships,
Of fine old ships and the sea,
With hulls that ply the rolling waves
Like a claymore flying free;
...

I grew up in Africa,
I've been to Zanzibar
I've seen the great Rift Valley,
and it's western rim so far,
...

There are many smells of Africa
That I at times recall:
The quay side waft of tainted water
In the harbor pool,
...

Who is God's wee watchman
Chirping through the night?
Who let's us know that all is safe
That everything's alright?
...

It sits there on the sideboard
Or on the mantle shelf,
And after such a long time
You don't notice it yourself.
...

An Apartheid Story

If you visit Cape Town
There's one thing you must do,
...

I stood by the bridge
Gazing down at the greens
Of the trees on the banks
At the union of streams.
...

Seventy one's a number
It means driving pretty fast,
It's one year past three score and ten
And that you've made it past.
...

The season is a'turning there's a real change in the air
A chilly wind is blowing now, the branches all look bare,
In L.A. and in Florida palms rattle in the breeze,
And folk are loading cars and trucks to bring home Christmas trees.
...

The old city is darkly hid beneath night's heavy gown,
And nothing stirs below in our medieval town.
The sun's first rays like golden spears come shining through,
Pale first, then brighter, lighting trees and sparkling dew.
...

Lunenburg's a harbor town
Known for the shipwright's trade,
Beside her wharves and beachhead slips,
Great schooners have been made.
...

I called it the "Snake House".
Others may not have done.
My mother and father may have known its address,
The house in Koru, on the hill
...

You may never have stood and looked down the sight
At the Tommy buck out in the breeze
With the barrel on the side of the truck
As your father says, "Gently now, squeeze."
...

Siafu, Siafu, they travel in lines,
Sometimes in tens and sometimes in nines,
Sometimes the ranks are ten yards wide
With big soldier ants that keep guard at the side.
...

Set in the Indian Ocean,
Off the African coast, but not far,
There's a fertile oasis surrounded by sea-
The Island of Zanzibar.
...

It was Margaret Thatcher's War
The final blast for glory,
Reflecting on it I might have been in service,
For had a different hand been played
...

I was strolling down the aisle,
We were shopping there in style,
With my daughter sitting smiling in the cart.
I was stretching out my hand
...

I have a little silver box,
And in its private hold
I store a thousand memories
And secrets never told.
...

When ever I touch the ground that's hot
With the sole of my foot that's bare,
I never fail to recall a time,
And the memories lingering there,
...

We were making a tour across Europe
Stopped late down in Chalon-sur-Saône
Checked into the youth hostel after lights out
So I walked up the halls on my own.
...