Burns Saltire

For Burns Night, a Saltire in the sky.

All the recent talk of the prospects of Scottish independence has me reflecting on Britishness. I'm Welsh, and that's an important part of my identity, but three of my grandparents were English, and I've lived in England all my adult life. My wife has two Welsh grandparents, but was born and raised in England, so sees herself as English. Our children have Welsh names, but were born and have only ever lived in England; who knows what they'll grow up to see themselves as. Perhaps they'll revel in their differences: one Geordie, one Tyke. We're all British, but it's a complex, resilient and dynamic Britishness that isn't dependent on nationality or nationalism to sustain it.

written
in the sky
a poet's birth