nymph sits suicidal by the water's edge by Nabiha Ali (17, Lancashire)

​ 
(eyes the colour
of stuck thorns)
the inevitable
confinement

---

​she will kneel
backwards over
the running water
bare mouth set
 
here I have come
to cast her
shadow to the
pale necked
undergrowth to
 
drain
her hair
free
of weeds

Nabiha Ali is a 17 year old Lancashire-based writer who has previously been shortlisted for the national BBC Young Writers' Award with Cambridge University, won first place in the 15-17 years age category for The Solstice Prize for Young Writers, and first place in the 13-18 years age category for The Kingston Quakers' Poetry Competition. She has also been published in The Blue Marble Review, and was shortlisted for the Young Muslim Writers' Awards. ​