Wake early. Take a cafetière
through to the conservatory.
Mist blanks out everything:
the road, the firth, the sea
beyond the curve of headland.
The oil rigs are vague shapes –
storybook monsters; phantoms.
Plunge; pour a mugful. Take
your first sip of the day. Feel
the bitter kickstart of caffeine.
The day hasn’t come alive yet.
Give it time. The sun will burn
through the mist. Landscape,
sea and sky will correlate.
Neil Fulwood was born in Nottingham, England, where he still lives and works. He has published two pamphlets with The Black Light Engine Room Press, Numbers Stations and The Little Book of Forced Calm; and two full collections with Shoestring Press, No Avoiding It and Can’t Take Me Anywhere. His third collection, Service Cancelled, is due for publication later this year.
Foxglove Journal 