Tartan

Today I will wear tartan. I will square

the circle of colour in my heart. I will wear

the colours of the rainbow with pride. Through the prism

of my being I will split the universal light.

I will walk down the street

like Mondrian run riot. Mondrian

was Scottish at heart. He did the opposite

of running riot. He reduced

tartan to basics in his attempt

to find universal beauty. He nearly got there.

He transferred the Highlands of Scotland

to the lowlands of Holland,

following the lines but

limiting the colours.

Mondrian was Dutch-Scottish.

I will go into battle in tartan. Like a chameleon,

like Schrõdinger’s chameleon,

I will box clever in all my colours.

The redcoats will never see me

to lay a pike on me, to lay me low.

Against the patterns of the fields

I will appear, disappear, reappear,

all in the one place. Only the light

will know where to find me and the light

is on my side.

Tramlined.

Tracked.

Gridlocked. But free.

Like an omni-coloured Aztec Code

or the ultimate High Capacity Color Barcode,

I will cross the earth

to the ends of the earth,

scanned every step of the way.

I will embody every bit of data

you can imagine. Or not.

I will wear my tartan with pride

in Scotland and around the world.

Today I will wear tartan.