City Conditions and Coast Riches: a poem by Kate Copeland

chapel, Faroe Islands, image by Eszter Miller, on Pixabay, modified

A word about city conditions and coast riches

This city shows houses hiding in rain when 

morning sails in. No mountains to hold sun, 

the centre shows all roofs cold-new. Bikes

jam, vans cut off canals. Distant. I move up 

to the silent stretching sky, closer to the North

Sea. Cargos hover outside a harbour’s mouth,

the stoney sailor’s wife's still at the Old Church, 

staring for ever. He won’t return, love. I tumble 

through the angel doors and light two candles. 

Out here, all stays poems and prayers.

(Previously published on the author's Instagram page.)

__________________________

Kate Copeland’s love for languages led her

to linguistics & teaching; her love for art & water to poetry. She is curator-editor for

The Ekphrastic Review & runs linguistic-poetry workshops for the International Women's Writing Guild. Find her poems @ TER, WildfireWords, Gleam, Metphrastics, Hedgehog Press, Spirit Fire Review or

@ instagram.com/kate.copeland.poems/.

Kate was born in a harbour-city and adores housesitting in the world.

December 2025 issue