Phase 3
Dockyard green, more rupture
than relic; green scars
cracking concrete, green fists
punching back the tide.
Even six feet down
an embankment of mud
green roots fester
and cling. The fouled salt
of the river only serves
to toughen their grip:
the tide washes green
downriver, quicklimed
to the sea
where I cups it in my hands,
my face a green mirror;
baptising new eyes
a darker shade of dream.
Ian Mullins bales out from Liverpool, England. Collections include Laughter In The Shape Of A Guitar (UB, 2015). Almost Human (Original Plus, 2017), Masks and Shadows (Wordcatcher, 2019), Take A Deep Breath (Dempsey & Windle, 2020) and Dirty Sweet (Anxiety Press, 2023).
Fixator Press 