BROWSE Columns
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In the tar and silt of a night
when the kerb hit your ribs,
wrecked, washed up,
slugged on a rough street,
your rope paid out,
splintering with pain,
face grazed, blood
in your mouth, afraid
these bins your last sight
of land – you heard the far
siren song. Rescuers
arrived, were kind,
shone light in your eyes.
At your worst, filthy,
a shell, of zero worth
to most others, these
saw something in you,
that was the pearl.
*An acronym used by emergency workers: Pupils Equal And Reactive To Light
Clare Starling started writing poetry when her son was diagnosed with autism during lockdown. Her pamphlet Magpie’s Nest won the Frosted Fire First Pamphlet Award 2023. She particularly loves writing about our connection with nature, and about how neurodiversity can give different perspectives on the world. Her poems have been published in many journals including Poetrygram, Porridge, Obsessed With Pipework, and The Interpreter’s House. After eighteen years as a Whitehall Civil Servant she is now training to be a nurse. She lives in London with her husband, son and their cat, Lady Jane Grey. www.clarestarling.com.
