Born backwards;
could sleep standing-up,
lived in a world upside-down.
silent as light.
grafted like a Scott;
found and loved Cimbrone.
Stars that shine now.
The doctor (under)standing on his
head.
Explanations (for those who like them):
- I was born backwards
- My Granny used to chuckle telling me, how as a toddler, I would sleep standing-up!
- Silent as Light – this what I call my common-place books (after Bovaglia)
- My mother’s family were fruit-growers and provided the fruit for the family business ‘Scott jams’: my grandfather taught me how to graft. I am a grafter in many senses
- Cimbrone is a garden high above Amalfi in Italy. It is where I honeymooned as a newly-wed. ‘Cimbrone’ is my wife
- Stars that shine now: my son (‘Hale-Bopp’ in my films) and daughter Rachel (‘Binglety, Banglety, Bumpety’ in my films)
- Standing on head: This refers to an old family doctor in Carluke (Victorian times). Dr Daniel Rankin used to greet his Carluke patients by standing-on-his-head! Almost as good as asking ‘WORLD’ to be spelled backwards?
The photograph below is of my Uncle Wilfrid: Athletic into old-age, he taught me to ski. In his 70s he won the Cairngorm downhill race!
