Uncle Archie by Iain Macdonald

 Like nearly all the island lads

he couldn’t swim a stroke,

yet brought his skin back whole

from three straight sinkings

on the Murmansk Run.

He drowned off a fishing boat

in peacetime,

the familiar coast of home

slipping from his eyes.

Ian Macdonald was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland and currently lives in Arcata, California.  He has earned his bread and beer in various ways, from flower picker to factory hand, merchant marience officer to high school teacher. His chapbooks Plotting the Course and Transit Report are published by March Street Press.