Hi! It’s just Unicorn Day, that’s all

Here we are. It’s a sunny Friday, it’s 9th April and it’s National Unicorn Day!

As a Scot I am delighted that King James II endorsed this mythical creature, representing purity and power, as my country’s national animal but I have also learned that it has a lengthy history in other parts of the world. 

In Ancient Greece it was spoken of as existing in far-flung India, to them an exotic place about which very little was known at the time. The writers of that time and place characterised it as an animal of power and ferocity.

In mediaeval times it was thought of as one of the creatures spoken of in the Bible, to which was attributed not just strength but the purest kind of love, a suitable pet for the protection of virgin women.

Unicorns have featured in more modern times in the writings of Lewis Carroll, J.K. Rowling and C.S. Lewis.

However, I have discovered that the modern invention of Unicorn Day boasts the objective of celebrating the positivity which can be achieved by allowing magic into our days from time to time, the sort of thing adults forget to do.

In recognition of the day, I have concluded this short post with the only poem I have written featuring a unicorn. As it does have a political message, perhaps at odds with the idea of pure fun and fantasy associated with Unicorn Day, you may be choose to ignore it.

Instead you may wish to grab the spirit of the day – bake and eat colourful cupcakes, for example,  watch a fun fantasy movie, or indeed read a fantastical book. The main objective, apparently, should be recalling the magic of our childhoods.

So, in your own personal way, I trust you enjoy Unicorn Day!

[I have a half-formed draft of a poem on the topic of the joy of childhood perspective but it’ll be some time before it is ready for exposure, so in the meantime, if you wish it, here is flight, published last year in A Kist of Thistles ‘An anthology of radical poetry from contemporary Scotland’, (pub. Culture Matters http://www.culturematters.org.uk)].

flight

so fearsomely beautiful 
and innocent and pure 
he scares the proud lion 
according to folklore
it may be dangerous 
to unchain the unicorn 
but as desire for 
unfettered liberty  
will at time of re-birth 
be the first priority 
let us unleash and bareback ride the beast
making myth reality
while breezes from infinity
refresh us to the core 
we shall hurdle every boundary, 
healing as we soar
on a flight of the seemingly impossible
our hearts at last will sing of freedom  
and Alba Gu Bràth the land of compassion