Poetry by Laura Jayne

               ​Marketa CC



Folkestone Harbour 

velvet body held in velvet body 
sewn to the same trembling back 
dimples of warmth shiver tentative    
a fragile gesture           a glittered reach

out beyond the harbour            the lighthouse 
to the armful of cliffs scooped and spooned
in silken mounds I could dip my fingers in
pull back sticky sweet ribbons gritty  
on my tongue 
her tongue licks long – the sea, I mean, 
her tongue - on and on empty as the horizon 
just the lushness of our breath carrying 
the stretch of me empty and turning 
a lighthouse lantern 
shooting along the crests 

I wrap my body in this beaming 
back turned to back not in bitterness 
but a mutual touch       a sharing of the weight 
whilst we grasp towards the warmer days
and hope the salt will soothe from me a rounder shape. 

​

Laura Jayne's poetry navigates relationships between nature and the queer body. Her poems have most recently appeared in Cypress and Jaden (Small Leaf Press), and her photography has been featured by Floresta Mag and Bind Collective. In 2020, Laura was a guest on The Poetry Exchange podcast, discussing personal connections to the poetry of Anne Sexton. She is currently reading an MA in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Birkbeck, University of London.   

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