Nia Broomhall is studying for an MA in Creative Writing with Lancaster University and has been an English teacher for 21 years. Her poems have been published by the 100 Words of Solitude project in 2020 and in Red Ogre Review. Originally from Somerset, she lives in Farnham, Surrey, with her family. She comes from a long line of women who talk to strangers and embarrass their children. You can connect with Nia on Twitter at @niaandthepoems

Ebb

and in the warning morning creak of my hips
and the wind in the trees
I hear something like fear that wants to follow me
and I do not swim

new veins break the surface like jetsam from ships
seabedbound and saltbleached   
tangled with those sodden ropes of seaweed
that will net my limbs

the bones in my dry heels tick

the wind says you do not have enough time

dive