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Skummeslövsstrand’s Shoreline
The Hyacinth Review
The Hyacinth Review

Skummeslövsstrand’s Shoreline

by
December 11, 2023
The South Strand, Emil Carlsen, 1909

Carl Alexandersson (he/him) is a queer spoken word poet based…

At 5 / at the shores of Skummeslövsstrand / we would collect the washed-up jellyfish / and place them in piles / I don't remember / why. Generally / I think the why-not's are more important / why not build a tower of jellyfish / reaching all the way to the candy floss clouds? See / at 5 / that made perfect sense /.../ I want nonsense to make sense again / pick up shiny things from the ground and keep them / draw badly with crayons / so as to grace the fridge / with this representative testament of my nonsensical existence! And then / I want to munch on snow / and feel the water melt / into me / hold your hand and not question it / ask you what your favourite colour is / and your top 5 animals / and if you remember / how quickly we could exit a building / for recess? It was a question of seconds / holding each other / so close /.../ Once / we went there in winter / holding plastic shovels close to our chests / stomping through the snow / to reach the shoreline / finding that oceans don't freeze the way lakes do / the waves stay warm by moving mum says / and we run / all the way home / emptyhanded / convinced / the holes we dug in the snow / will still be there tomorrow /.../ In Cornwall, I am told / collecting trinkets from the shore / is common practice. The belief / that whatever the sea washes up is yours / to keep / washed clean / of any claims / belonging to the sea and the shore and the clouds and you all / at /.../ Once, my brother got stung by a lion's mane jellyfish / so badly / we had to scrape his entire back / with dad's credit card. During the car ride / home / dad explained why / that works / and his words made sense /.../ We had asked the sea to play / with us / and it had said no / there is nothing left / to collect. Don’t ask me / again.
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Carl Alexandersson (he/him) is a queer spoken word poet based in Glasgow, Scotland, hailing from Småland, Sweden. He was selected for the BBC Words First programme in 2021, Highly Commended for the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award 2022, and a runner-up for the Grierson Verse Prize 2022. His work has been published in Atrium Poetry, Ink Sweat & Tears, Impossible Archetype, and more. His debut poetry pamphlet 'Förgätmigej // Forget-me-not' was published by Stewed Rhubarb Press in July 2023.

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