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Washing by Wendy Allen


in the bucket are rosebuds
turning cordial by a stick 
worn thin as marriage 
a bitter raspberry tide mark
the exact shade of lipstick I find 
on your collar            
these pink flecks stick 
to the sides of the steel
like yesterday’s syntax
in this cold minuscule light
you are madly morning frantic 
your ink laced fingertips 
dip yesterday’s sheets deep 
into our steel rimmed estuary
the water is bridal cold 
as you hold the sheets under

---

Wendy Allen has been published in Atrium, Re-Side, Brunel Writer and Northern Gravy. She has a Legitimate Snack coming out shorty from Broken Sleep and is about to start an MA in Creative Writing at Oxford Brookes.

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