Poem by Elise Cookson, photograph by Matt Hardy

A battered Barque, upon the seas,

Alone among the waves;

A coming storm entraps the breeze,

And brings along a haze

Blinded by the elder fog

That long has kept at bay,

The monstrosities of an epilogue

To sailors’ final days

But like the captain of the ship

Enduring for his men;

The options slim, are to equip

Fighting to the bitter end

An act of valiant uncertainty,

Rivaled only by the chance

To steer to land - a life-saving plea -

But a coward’s well-known dance