At sunrise I saw him,
In rusty casing,
Tarnished,
Burnt by the breeze,
Branded with sea salt and in-memoriam’s knife.
His soldered cracks seeped past misdemeanours;
Sanded edges softened spiked blows.
At eventide I saw him,
Lichen-love,
Suffocated,
Gasping for air.
Jetsam ditched, lagan abandoned;
His flotsam washed upon my shore,
As the sirens stalked, singing… ‘I love you’.
Mellissa Flowerdew-Clarke 