is full of ghosts –
they roll in
with white-washed bones
of cuttlefish cluttering the beach
bodies knee-deep
in surf
throw no shadows
under the moon’s cold lamp
eyes scan
where oystercatchers shelter
in sand that shaves dunes
and dusts fens
inland
thud of feet
slap of leather through mud flats
slabs of words
in a tongue thick as calluses
scour stone
slide down slate to
the brekka-brow
bjork-birch
goosnargh-gorse
they named—
their stone-boats face Valhalla
*Poem inspired by the Viking Rock Tombs at Heysham Head, The Fylde Coast, Lancashire
Born in Blackpool Kathy Finney is actively involved in preserving the folk tales, history and dialect voices of her home county of Lancashire. In 2018 Kathy gained a Master of Arts in Poetry & Creative Writing with the Open University. Her work has recently been shortlisted in a number of national competitions including the ‘Frosted Fire First’ pamphlet competition 2021, run by Cheltenham Poetry Festival. She is also published or forthcoming in many magazines including The Broken Spine, online at Words for the Wild and in anthologies, including the Places of Poetry Anthology and Red Letter Openings, the Open University Poets 40th Anniversary Anthology. Kathy has now become a serial studier by day, poet by night and tweets @GradelyLass.
photo by Wikimedia Commons user Antiquary, edited under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license
Crow & Cross Keys 