SINKING BELOW THE WATERLINE
The moon tugs at the hem of my dresswith pale fingers.
Sucks at my bloodtide
and bares my shingle.
She releases the wolves
who howl as
their paws embed with stones.
Carnassials graze my throat;
I offer one my tongue.
He takes it gently between his teeth,
pulling until it is free.
Silver-furred,
they lie in a circle.
I become the eye.
I become the sleep.
I become the silence.
I let them feast
on my salt,
the moon a voyeur.
BIO
Helen Laycock, winner of Black Bough Poetry’s Chapbook contest and shortlistee of The Broken Spine’s Chapbook competition, has nominations for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Her collection ‘FRAME’ has featured as Book of the Month at the East Ridge Review, her spoken word poetry was showcased at September’s edition of iamb, and she has recently been celebrated in a ‘Silver Branch’ feature with Black Bough.
Publication includes After…, BBC Upload, Reflex, Ekphrastic Review, Lucent Dreaming, Popshot, Black Bough, The Storms Journal, Broken Spine, Fevers of the Mind, Cabinet of Heed, The Winged Moon, The Caterpillar, The Dirigible Balloon, Flash Flood, Three Drops Press, Visual Verse, Onslaught, Frazzled Lit, Paragraph Planet, CafeLit, Literary Revelations, Blink-Ink, Ink, Sweat and Tears, Dark Winter Lit and Rough Diamond, with imminent publications in the pipeline. She also had a 2025 poetry spotlight at The Starbeck Orion. Social Media: Twitter/X: @helen_laycock, Facebook: Helen Laycock, Author and Helen Laycock, Instagram: @poetnell, Bluesky @helenlaycock.bsky.social, Youtube: Nell and her Poetry: @NellandherPoetry-ym6bp)
IceFloe Press 