Solo by River Wolton
Solo
A day from home she feels as tall
as the mast she lashed one roaring night,
radio down, listing but alive.
When the uncharted island shimmers into view
the warning tales slip from her memory;
she fails to log it with the team
who’ve got her pinpointed on GPS
and hourly report that hacks are poised for sound-bites
on the quay, lenses agog.
Out there, imperceptible to Skype,
the voices croon: Come,
it will never be this good again.
Later, the decibel analysis reveals something
that could be leatherbacks. And one neat splash,
off camera, from the bow.
River Wolton was shortlisted in the main category of the NCLA’s Water Poetry Competition 2012.
The NCLA Water Poetry Competition was judged by W.N. Herbert and John Burnside. The ceremony was held at Northern Stage on 23rd February 2012.
Photographs of the event can be viewed here.
NCLA Water Poetry Competition website.
A short biography from the author:
River Wolton’s first collection ‘Leap’ is published by Smith/Doorstop. She is a freelance writer in schools, libraries and community projects, and was Derbyshire Poet Laureate 2007-9. Despite her watery moniker, she doesn’t usually write on this topic. ‘Solo’ is part of a sequence that takes a playful look at myths, celebrity and the digital age. http://www.riverwolton.co.uk