The size, colour
of my pinky fingernail
serrated lips punctuated
by one speck of shell
if my fingers
were small enough
to prise it open
flick with my tongue-tip
till taut lips
loosen, open wide
tease, spell out its name
until the bottoming shudder
splits rocks to a cirrus sky.

——

Edinburgh-based Jay Whittaker’s debut poetry collection, Wristwatch, was published by Cinnamon Press in 2017.  She writes about transition, resilience, grief, breast cancer, and LGBT+ lives (including her own). Her poems have been published in a wide range of magazines and she enjoys performing on the Edinburgh spoken word scene. www.jaywhittaker.uk