The Rising Tide
Poet: Diana Sanders
Sometimes sea-light enters the kitchen
with its mermaid tails and shoals of herring.
She opens the window to the shriek of gulls —
the pulse of waves licking the sill.
Seaweed grips window frames,
stretches for the ceiling.
Limpets slide to the kettle
and grind themselves in.
The letterbox clinks along with anchored
yachts that pitch and roll on the tide.
Sea hares slime down her face —
barnacles cling to her toes.
Surf bubbles down the chimney bringing
crabs which tap-tap over floorboards —
find hiding places under sofa cushions
and lay in wait for passing shrimp.
Fish peer into a small room
where a woman swims round in circles
under a lightbulb sun
in pools of brine.
Diana Sanders is a musician, composer and award-winning poet. Her poetry has been published in magazines and anthologies in the UK, USA and India. She is interested in combining music and poetry and has curated several events that combine these artforms. Most of her work is influenced by the wildlife and landscape of North Wales where she is privileged to live.