Above the cliffs a swarm
of sea birds circles
the cinched waist of the island
a nimbus of puffins and auks
flying higher, faster,
almost silent except for beating wings –
a dervish dance
a typhoon rooted in one place
a lighthouse beam of dark motes
a spell to herald darkness
praise for another day of incubation
this ritual of summer evenings
and my small white face
watching from the bobbing boat.
Rebecca Gethin lives in Devon. She was a winner in the first Coast to Coast to Coast pamphlet competition with Messages. A pamphlet about endangered creatures called Vanishings is due to be published by Palewell Press in 2020. Two pamphlets were published in 2017: A Sprig of Rowan by Three Drops Press and All the Time in the World by Cinnamon Press who previously published a collection and two novels. She has been a Hawthornden Fellow and undertook a residency at Brisons Veor in 2018. Find more at www.rebeccagethin.wordpress.com.
Foxglove Journal 