Who am I?
I’m no show-off, modest me,
crawling the shady shallows of the burn
where you’ll not notice me.
If I also keep the trout fooled for one year,
I’ll change my form and shape,
leave behind my case,
and break the burn’s shimmering surface
with brand new wings.
I’m no show-off, modest me,
but I could show you how to
spin a sheath of silk around you
glue onto it a fortress from stones or twigs,
tight-fitting, light enough to hike with.
Then you’ll be safe.
I’m no show-off, modest me,
though ‘cad’ is in my name
and, of course, I’m a master of disguise.
Inspired by, written for, Abriachan Forest Trust, May 2010
Place, memory and motion drive Linda Cracknell‘s writing in non-fiction, including ‘Doubling Back: Paths trodden in memory‘ (2024) and in fiction ‘The Other Side of Stone‘ (2021) – two centuries for a Perthshire woollen mill. Her 2025 memoir, ‘Sea Marked: Throwing a Line to a Coastal Past‘ explores a seafaring ancestry. She lives in Aberfeldy and teaches creative writing widely.
