Rising whispers of marram grass
across the dunes call counterpoint
to the forlorn tune of the lost sea.
Every swim seems like a chance
to find the way back to weightless warmth,
unthinking poise of umbilical survival.
The reluctance of departure, rain-stricken,
scraping over the shingle. Creatures
evolving in the air
from something safe to something human.
Penny Blackburn
Penny Blackburn (she/her) lives in North East England but
is originally from Yorkshire. Her poetry has been published by, among others,
Poetry Society News, Lighthouse, Dreamcatcher, Ink Sweat and Tears, Spelt and
Riggwelter and she was awarded second place in the Ver Poetry Competition 2022.
Her pamphlet from Wild Pressed Books, A Taste for Bread, was published
in 2021 and her first collection with Yaffle Press, Gaps Made of Static,
comes in autumn 2023. Penny is co-host
of Cullerpoets poetry stanza and host of Under the Arches spoken word evening
in Tynemouth and is on Facebook and Twitter as @penbee8.
