Shells

The conversation opened and closed
Cold and blue as a mussel shell,
Despite the dancing fire
That made the sand around us
Flash like fireflies.
But the sea salt scours us clean;
A swim in the curving green swell
Prises open enough to glimpse a gleam,
A mutual love of the fold of arm through water,
And the rhythm of breath matching waves;
Naked in that tattooed ocean
Two among many;
A party brought to the lip of the land
And kissed by the northern solstice.

From the rock|salt art and poetry collaborative project, 2022 – follow us on Instagram @rocksaltproject

-Larissa Reid

Bios and Links

–Larissa Reid

A freelance science writer by trade, Larissa has written poetry and prose regularly since 2016. Notable publications include Northwords Now, Silk & Smoke, Green Ink Poetry, Fenacular, Black Bough Poetry Anthologies, and the Beyond the Swelkie Anthology. She had a poem shortlisted for the Janet Coats Memorial Prize 2020. Larissa is intrigued by visible and invisible boundary lines in landscapes – geological faultlines, myth and reality, edge-lines of land and sea. Based on Scotland’s east coast, she balances her writing life with bringing up her daughters. Larissa is a founder member of the Edinburgh-based writing group, Twisted::Colon.