Scots Makar Tells MSPs to “close the gap”

Liz Lochhead, Scots Makar

Liz Lochhead, Scots Makar (Scotland’s ‘Poet Laureate’) joined The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, First Minister Rt Hon Alex Salmond and MSPs for the opening of the fourth session of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh this morning.

Following in the poetic footsteps of the first Scots Makar, her good friend Edwin Morgan, OBE, Liz read a poem which was commissioned from her for the opening ceremony. And like Edwin, she pulled no punches in what the Parliament and its MSPs should be and do, ending one verse with, “But close the gap between what we say and what we do”.

The full text of Liz’s poem “Open” can be read on the Scottish Parliament website, here.

Polygon publishes three collections of poetry by Liz Lochhead – The Colour of Black and White, Dreaming Frankenstein and True Confessions and New Cliches. A new collection of her selected work, The Choosing, will be published in September.