Rosalind Johnston

Rosalind’s life as mother, teacher and assistant has been one of chronic pain since an accident and back surgery in ’87. Recently, lupus/sjogrens brought retirement and a return to her first love – poetry. She studied for an MA on Paul Celan in ’77.

Wreck

MSC Napoli, East Devon, April 2007

Broken-backed,
you lie stranded mid-bay,
a bloodied, red spine
of helpless steel,
patiently submitting to the
relentless surgery of salvage.

Winter winds and waves wrecked
your good intentions;
loosed your lego-kit of multi-coloured bricks
into the hands of shoreline scavengers
who scoured the shingle night and day
defiling the coastline with their greed.

No need for rescue now.
Soon autumn’s grey surf will conceal
the carcass of your dreams,
dumped in the depths of the sea.