August 2023

The Sun on Princes Street

On Saturday we stopped and gazed
On Princes Street, on Princes Street,
As unexpected came the sun
And kissed the stone of Princes Street,
And up above us, all the flags
Fluttered brave on Princes Street,
In semaphore they made the claim
Of freedom there on Princes Street.

And somewhere, in a place nearby,
A brass band played – you knew the tune,
And mouthed the words on Princes Street;
The message of the song, you said,
Was ae fond kiss, as Burns would say;
While up above us in the sky
The pigeons fluttered, fanning out;
A train passed by, it whistled sharp
On Princes Street, on Princes Street,
The heart can break, you pointed out,
In many ways, in many ways,
And most of them, it seemed to me,
On Princes Street, on Princes Street.

From ‘I Think of You’ by Alexander McCall Smith