Cordelia
The oiled turn to the wave had hidden from the spray
Out across the bay no dark
has silenced gull nor swell
Closer in And the slick sheen folds itself as breaker
slipping and first onto the sand
The tide begins its climb
Trawlerwake and freightercall to rivermouth 'til late
The anchorage sets thickly
and quayside lights begin
Stepping out from the bar for just that caught-cough moment
she kneels and dips her right hand
into the feeding tide
All the night ahead she holds the shining surf tight
holds gull and cormorant as one
holds fast the hidden wave
Patrick Davidson Roberts was born in 1987 and grew up in Sunderland and Durham. He was editor of The Next Review magazine 2013-2017, co-founded Offord Road Books press in 2017 and reviews for The Poetry School. He is the author of The Mains (Vanguard Editions, 2018). In 2019 he ran All My Teachers, an all-women reading series.