ORACLE

There was this time, years ago, I was in London and wondering whether to stay there or come back to Glasgow. Someone suggested I consult an oracle. I-Ching sort of thing. (It was the Sixties!) I thought I would give it a go. But the only book I had to hand was a collection of Japanese haiku – a big thick hardback by RH Blyth, published in Tokyo. So I decided to open the book at random, see if it had anything to tell me.

 

I closed my eyes, opened the book. And when I looked at the page, this is what I read: 

This is the bell that never rang

This is the fish that never swam

This is the tree that never grew

This is the bird that never flew  

In a book of Japanese haiku. Published

in Tokyo. And the footnote just said

Jingle on Glasgow City coat of arms. 

So I came back to Glasgow.