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1./ Happy 101st birthday to one of the great Scottish poets of the 20th Century, Edwin Morgan; who died in 2010. He often hinted at his sexuality as in the lovely 'Strawberries' 
but only came out in 1990. In 1995 he gifted a poem to Glasgow's new Lesbian and Gay Centre. https://twitter.com/ByLeavesWeLive/status/1254787389735735296
but only came out in 1990. In 1995 he gifted a poem to Glasgow's new Lesbian and Gay Centre. https://twitter.com/ByLeavesWeLive/status/1254787389735735296
2./ It was a cheeky tribute to all things gay:-
"Come all ye persons of goodwill,
from Newton Mearns to Maryhill,
Rattle the chains and launch the boat
And get it properly afloat.
I bash this poem against the bow,
Name it GGLC and endow
Its future cruise with benedictions..."
"Come all ye persons of goodwill,
from Newton Mearns to Maryhill,
Rattle the chains and launch the boat
And get it properly afloat.
I bash this poem against the bow,
Name it GGLC and endow
Its future cruise with benedictions..."
3./ The University has the manuscript and this essay points out he speculated on who might visit the centre including the "Straightest of straights, bentest of bents, Carbolic scrub, Armani scents, Doc Martens girls, minikilt boys, buyers of exotic toys." …https://universityofglasgowlibrary.wordpress.com/2014/02/20/lgbt-history-month-poem-that-launched-gglc/
…https://universityofglasgowlibrary.wordpress.com/2014/02/20/lgbt-history-month-poem-that-launched-gglc/
4./ His wiki entry now claims he wrote the poem for Glasgow's LGBT Centre. Of course it does! Should we change the rhythm of his poem too?
"For this is where we all can meet
Down by the river in Dixon Street,
And the Broomielaw rolls on to the sea
With the happy cargo of GGLC."
"For this is where we all can meet
Down by the river in Dixon Street,
And the Broomielaw rolls on to the sea
With the happy cargo of GGLC."
5./ It would be unfair on Morgan to suggest his work was as insubstantial as that little Lesbian and Gay Centre ditty. It can land a real emotional punch as in this look back at his own life and 70 years of geopolitics and the city he loved, Glasgow. https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/seven-decades/
https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/seven-decades/
6./ Morgan wrote in English but his translations of Mayakovsky into Scots have a fierce swagger which we can only wish he'd developed more:
"Twal-dizzen-sun-pooer gloamin-bang,
July ablow the wheels o simmer,
the lift skimmerin
the het day lang—
and on his hoalidays the rhymer."
"Twal-dizzen-sun-pooer gloamin-bang,
July ablow the wheels o simmer,
the lift skimmerin
the het day lang—
and on his hoalidays the rhymer."
7./ William Logan argues his Scots becomes totally anemic when turned into standard English like this: "Dusk’s a twelve-dozen-sun-powered explosion, July beneath the wheels of summer, the sky shimmering the long hot day; and on his vacation the poet." https://newcriterion.com/issues/2018/6/verse-chronicle-9845
https://newcriterion.com/issues/2018/6/verse-chronicle-9845
8./ Enjoy your birthday Mr Morgan wherever you are. The GLG Centre is long gone but let's be thankful for small mercies: you were never asked to write a poem for an LGBTQi2AA+ Centre. They wouldn't have liked your cheeky jokes. They much prefer misery and moping nowadays.
