in the great swell
that comes crashing
soft on this shore.
Silence breaks in these waves.
Crackling signals whisper
in the stretching disturbance of surf.
Along this length of nylon orange cord
weathering to brown, wildly frayed,
what distant disconnections come to mind?
Red Falcon?
Ross Cleveland?
Laforey?
Gaul?
What mute voices leak
from black driftwood remains
of broken ships that fade
to lighter shade?
Breaking Silence was among the commended poems in the Humber Mouth Festival Poetry Competition in 2000
