We used to collect them

down along the groynes

which met the horizon

and the setting sun.

 

We would count them,

one by one, and see which of us,

seven, eight, and nine,

was the richest.

 

Yet Granny never let us pop them,

because they were the property

of the sea,

belonging to creatures we longed to see.

 

To believe in the existence

of midnight-haired mermaids

swimming far out of reach,

leaving only seaweed memories on our beach.

 

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Written for my Granny’s birthday in March ❤

Poem: © Kristiana Reed 2020

Between the Trees UK

Between the Trees US

Signed copies on Etsy