Collecting Eyes by Rachel Carney

Collecting Eyes

They glisten wetly

on the shore

in the early morning sun,

blinking up at you,

as you stoop

down to scoop them

onto your spade,

and tip them

into a small

plastic bucket.

The more you take,

the heavier it grows:

heavy with looking,

with knowing,

with being known.

Rachel Carney is a writer and academic based in Cardiff, in the UK. Her poems, reviews and articles have been published in numerous magazines including Poetry Wales, Anthropocene and Acumen. Her debut collection Octopus Mind was selected as one of The Guardian’s Best Poetry Books of 2023. www.createdtoread.com