Roddy Lumsden, 1966 - 2020

Many years ago I searched the internet for famous Lumsdens. There weren't many. But I found a Scottish poet, Roddy. How likely was it that this relatively unknown poet I'd found was any good?

He was brilliant. Poems of dazzling wit and wordplay. And then I heard him read aloud in soft Scottish tones, and I loved his work even more. Over time he became quite celebrated, appearing on BBC radio, referenced by other poets as an influence on them.

Around 2014 he disappeared from public view. Finally I saw him again in a YouTube video giving a reading of new work in 2017, looking haggard and old beyond his years, though his new poems were as vibrant as always.

He died last month, just 53 years old.

His poem "The Young", an ode to youth that catches the breath, is so poignant now.

One cartwheel over the quicksand curve 
of Tuesday to Tuesday and you’re gone, 
summering, a ship on the farthest wave.

He reads it beautifully here, in a recording that I hope never ever disappears from the internet. 

RIP Roddy.