Frances Wilde

Frances Wilde is a 24-year-old writer from Nottingham, UK, living in Dublin, having previously lived in Galway. She has a BA in English Literature and an MA in Film Studies – Theory and Practice.  Her poetry was recently read at the Irish Writers Centre WomenXBorders event and has appeared in Flash Literary Journal, Lancaster.

Swim to Inis Leacan

I see myself
in the Gurteen Bay
shallow cove,
reflected back
a wobbly silver-blue.

Sombre clouds shrouding
a clear silhouette,
ocean washing in,
to tell me (in coercive tones)
who I am.

Memories rising
from the water
to greet me.

Who were we,
swimming for miles,
at slack water?

Arctic terns,
screeching cheerily above,
exude the end of a season.
Tide turns.

© 2020 Frances Wilde