All that unpicking at the mercy of wind
The tide unpleats from her godet,
zig-zags in running stitch
round the base of the côtil.
Her quick fingers unravel raw edges,
unpin seed potatoes,
rip daffodil seams.
She pulls hems from fence posts,
tacks white sides of sheep,
chalking rows in double backstitch.
Grey folk watch from the ferry.
She gathers up the red sky,
turns it inside out.
Sandra Noel is a Jersey born poet with a passion for the sea. She has poems in magazines and anthologies throughout the UK. Her debut collection Into The Under was published in July 2024 by Yaffle’s Nest, Yaffle Press.