Amanda Bell

Uniform

We gathered mussels in a bucket, drank brandy in the afternoon and swam in the dark fjord.

The November sea was deep grey green, the bearded mussels petrol blue. The kelp was russet brown where we clambered out, gasping; our feet were mottled purple as we hobbled towards the house. Unlike you, I’d never been to boarding school. It was the first and only time I took a bath with a girl.

fugged up windows—
on the stark zinc countertops
scarlet lobsters cool

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About the Author

Amanda Bell is an Irish poet and writer. Her most recent book, Riptide, is a collection of poetry, haibun and haiku, published by Doire Press (September 2021). She is an assistant editor of The Haibun Journal and judge of the haibun category in the British Haiku Society’s Awards for 2022. www.clearasabellwritingservices.ie.