Aberdeen City And Shire Poem by Laurence Overmire

Aberdeen
The Silver City with the Golden Sands
Between the Rivers Dee and Don
The third most populous city in
Scotland

Home to
The University of Aberdeen
Founded 1495
Scotland's third oldest
After St. Andrews and Glasgow

Engage your mind at the
Satrosphere
(Yes, you heard that right
Sat-ro-sphere)
Science and Discovery Centre
With exhibitions, workshops and
Experiments for all ages

Then there's the Aberdeen Art Gallery
The Maritime Museum
The David Welch Winter Gardens
The Gordon Highlanders Museum
Or the fascinating
Provost Skene's House

In the greater shire are some of the most
Gorgeous and majestic castles you'll find
Anywhere
The Royal residence of Balmoral
Drum Castle
Castle Fraser
And Crathes Castle
Haunted by
The Green Lady

South of Stonehaven
You'll find
Dunnottar Castle
Formidably situated
On the top of a cliff
Surrounded on three sides by
The North Sea
The stronghold of the
Keiths, the Earls Marischal
The place where the
Scottish Crown Jewels
Were hidden and kept safe
From Oliver Cromwell's
Invading army
In the 17th century

With so much to see and
So much to do
Your most difficult decision
Is trying to figure out

Exactly where to start.

~ Laurence Overmire

(Previously published in The Ghost of Rabbie Burns: An American Poet's Journey Through Scotland, Indelible Mark Publishing,2016)