"In these delightful poems, Alexander McCall Smith writes about his travels, from Africa to Greece, London to Dubai, and back home to Scotland. He shares his gentle, inimitably McCall Smith-esque observations on life, love, and beauty, reminding us how deeply satisfying it can be to take in the world around us with all our senses, and with all our mind and heart"-- Provided by publisher.

"Originally published in hardcover in Great Britain by Polygon Books, an imprint of Birlinn Limited, Edinburgh, in 2020."--Title page verso.

In a time of distance.A washing line outside a Croft house -- Taste and memory -- In a time of distance. Journeys. Our journeys -- The train arriving at Platform Two -- Adelstrop revisited -- The language of pilots -- College of Hypnotherapy, next right -- Quality provisions for Ever -- Not Rus in Urbe but Suburbia in Rure -- A typology of angels -- Household gods -- Holy river -- Mustard field, Rajasthan -- Feel glorious -- Do not lean again -- Ne pas. A Scottish four seasons. Spring -- Summer -- Autumn -- Winter. Interlude: seven sonnets. Sixty talks to Eighteen -- Eighteen replies to Sixty -- Forty intervenes, remembers Horace -- Adventure and uncertainty -- It takes a village to raise a child -- King James VI of Scotland reflects on the loss of his only friend when young -- Love unforgotten. Of the animals. Primate cousins -- The gentleness of whales -- Elephants -- Kangaroos -- The dung beetle -- Tortoise -- Cheetah -- Polar bear -- Crocodile -- Lion -- Small, insignificant antelope -- Giraffe, zebra -- Our world, their world. Of love & longing. Love over Scotland -- On clouds over Mull: a love song -- Nocturnal blessing -- Love lost -- On looking at a child. Of books & reading. The goodness of books -- The book becomes -- Moveable type -- What the book is -- On the bedside table -- Remembering Muriel Spark -- Graham Greene -- A maker of beautiful books -- Library of Congress. Places. Greece -- The Oracle at Delphi -- Goodbye to the Ionian -- Scotland -- St. Kilda -- Dear one -- Scotland's claim -- Edinburgh -- A fragile beauty -- The seven hills of Edinburgh -- The Castle Rock -- Craiglockhart Hill, a century ago -- Arthur's seat and geology -- Imagined conversation on Blackford Hill -- Corstophine Hill -- On Calton Hill -- Braid Hills. Unrelated poems. Northland -- Wolves -- The Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg -- From a Mumbai Hotel -- Fish, and the thoughts of fish -- Saving an Oak Tree -- Friendship.