You stand in the downpour, feet sinking into the wet sand
under the stubbed gaze of the Martello tower.
Scallops, mussels and razor clams lie strewn around you
like casualties of the last invasion.
You are held in this cusped place of pushed
sediment and extreme water.
A little way out is instant
depth. You stand
armoured with insignificance
small with wonder
watching for import in the turbulent cloud
and roughening sea.
Who comes to rescue or subdue?
No god, no hero appears
only the local ferry shuttling back and forth
on its known course
and the latest squall forcing you back
to the dunes
where spiked grasses thriving on burial
brace the sand.
Gill Barr’s poems have appeared in a range of publications such as: Bad Lilies, The New Humanist, The New European, The Honest Ulsterman, Atrium and Riptide’s Climate Change Matters anthology. Gill appeared at the Ledbury Poetry Festival in 2022 (Event 68). She holds an MA in Creative Writing from Queen’s University, Belfast and runs poetry workshops. Gill was born in Derry / Londonderry and attended First Derry Primary School, now the Verbal Arts Centre in Stable Lane. She currently lives in Dorset, but returns home frequently.
More work by Gill Barr
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