Grey Paper Catching the Wind

Mary Senier

salt-vinegar sting of seaside chips
on sea-chapped lips
knees knocked                                                boats docked knock
shorts sand-pocked
and tangled hair, wind-helped                      the knotted kelp
fat sun bleeding
a beetroot rolled beyond
the horizon raising
black flag clouds
over the crumbled castle’s
resilient rock, peeping clover
pinkly quivering
whispering petals
in the cold air
marching in from the water,
darkening                                                        a storm without warning
hastening to shelter
inside the ruin, losing
the chip wrapper on the way down,
grey paper catching the wind
wrenched from the night
by a bold-beaked seagull
lit by lightning streaking
through the rain                                              grey paper catching the wind
riding the whims
of the turbulent roar
ripped fast across
the sheep that dot the hill,
shaggily seeping bleating
heavy and cold and
sadly weeping wool
will the sky lighten,
stone hiss, breathe                                           the mist that brings the morning

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Mary Senier (sher/her) is a poet from the Black Country and an assistant editor for Sledgehammer Lit. Her work can be found in Ample Remains, The Alchemy Spoon, Re-Side, The Madrigal, and more! You can find her on Twitter @MarySenier.

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