Isabel Watson 2016 Basil Bunting Poetry Award Young Person's Prize Winner, 14 and Under

Isabel Watson

2016 Basil Bunting Poetry Award Young Person’s Prize Winner, 14 and Under

 

At Portland Bill

 

We wait with baited breath
and then we gasp in awe
for the roar of the waves
overpowers us all.
A carpet of water constantly unfurling
from little mountains crashing
to the big waves a-curling.
The water’s hissing in a menacing rage
submerging the rocks in epic climbing waves.
Tumbling over each other in their haste
to get to shore, making icy foams
sharp as a tiger’s claw.
Then we’re coated in sea salt,
a sheet of soaking spray
for a massive wave came tumbling,
swirling up a fray.
The spray shoots upwards –
up it soars so high,
spilling water secrets to the eager, murky sky.
Threatening, a wave builds up,
showing a heart of emerald green
as if in a finale,
there’s one more wave extreme.