Seagulls
They would shred morning open
from 3 a.m, jangling keys
in their beaks, an hour after
the last scatter of drunks
had sung their way home.
Every layer of black plastic
flayed, pavements strewn
with rot, the week split open
like the belly of a fish –
Olga Dermott’s debut poetry pamphlet apple, fallen is published with Against the Grain Press. She won the BBC Proms poetry competition 2019. Originally from Northern Ireland, she is a teacher and lives in Warwickshire.