The Saturday Poem: She pulls herself up

A new poem by Jane Clarke, whose debut collection is ‘The River’

for the power and pulse
that lifts her and her board
so she's standing on water,

for the sound of the spray
when a clean wave breaks
in hailstones around her,

for the time outside time
when she catches the gust
and is swept

the full length of the fetch,
wind like a blade to her neck.
For the tug of the swell,

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in the moment before
she must bail,
she pulls herself up.

i.m. Shirley McClure 1962-2016

Jane Clarke’s debut collection is The River (Bloodaxe)