a ghazal for Doggerland
—after Doggerland: Lost World in the North Sea, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (2021)
we walk through the exhibition hall lost
amongst water-logged bones, a sunk haul lost
grave-deep underwater, newly unearthed
as North-Sea fishing boats treasure-trawl lost
hunting grounds, an Iron Age river-run from
Rhine to River Thames, a sprawl of squall-lost
arrowheads, mammoth-tusk beads, lives abandoned
to rising tides and arctic icefall lost
in time, footprints like tidal echo, I head home
down streets that cower behind seawall. Lost.
Dilys Wyndham Thomas is an assistant poetry editor at Passengers Journal. Her work has appeared in publications including Beyond Words, Rust+Moth and Shooter, and was longlisted for the 2022 Mslexia Poetry Pamphlet Competition. Find her online at dilyswt.com.