Contributor: Neil Leadbeater

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In the hip-joint of Somerset, this ball and socket bay.

The name conjures up shipping, especially when lowered
and lifted up
its surface glistening with sunlit molluscs
dredged up from the deep.

If you follow the tides
you can catch the moment they are on the turn
that brief breathing-while of indecision
when they come so far and go no further
like guests who discover
that it's time to leave
so as not to outstay a welcome

as you do Nautilus, every day,
taking your cue from the moon.


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Neil Leadbeater is an author, poet, essayist and critic living in Edinburgh, Scotland. His latest book is "The Loveliest Vein of Our Lives" (Poetry Space, 2014). His work has been translated into Romanian, Spanish and Swedish.