Beyond Borders Scotland and Dove Tales, the Association of Scottish Writers for Peace, collaborated on the Beyond Writing Competition, aiming to facilitating dialogue and cultural exchange through the creative writing and storytelling.    

The competition consisted of three rounds; Inspirational Women, Creative Peace and Beyond Borders.  

This piece by Laurna Robertson was shortlisted for Round II: Creative Peace. The competition’s judge, Jean Rafferty of Dove Tales, described the piece: It uses a central image, the tango, to illustrate political history, in this case that of Cuba. Elusive, beautifully judged images count down the decades in her touching poem

AT THE BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB

In Havana

in the fifties

in crowded clubs

musicians sang sad ballads 

and played tango 

for chiquitas 

who circled with their partners round the floor.     

In the bleak years

of New Cuba 

when gatherings        

were banned and phones sat silent 

bandoneons

locked in cases                          

languished in dark corners of the floor.      

In the nineties   

they hunted tangos         

on sheet music

stained with red wine and black coffee              

or lost in gardens  

left in bedrooms

where notes slipped from the pages to the floor.    

The Orchestra                         

Buena Vista

plays again

those racing struts and pauses          

–piano pounding 

bandoneons bouncing–   

to set toes tap-tap-tapping on the floor.    

—

Chiquitas– girls   

bandoneons- concertinas