Taking Tea with the Bal Maidens
As seabed-boulders roll
over their heads, metalliferous
seams creak and scream.
‘There’s plenty of ‘sten’
the miners call to them
on the surface, who lift,
haul, pick, break, sep-
arate the ore, to find
the crack that binds the tin.
As they dress the ore,
they chant, sing, and sip
from a flask of mugwort tea.
Alison Lock
Alison Lock’s writing focuses on the relationship of humans and the environment connecting an inner world with an exploration of land and sea. Her most recent publications are a short story collection A Witness of Waxwings, Cultured Llama Press (2017); and Revealing the Odour of Earth, Calder Valley Poetry (2017). You can read more here; http://www.alisonlock.com Tweeting as @alilock4
Photo credit; Pinterest.co.uk/www.westernmorningnews.co.uk
The Beach Hut 