Jenny Barrett ...won a national prize aged 8 for a piece about red squirrels in her native Northumberland. She's a published journalist and playwright who loves theatre, walking Freud the dog and saving Eastern Europe for democracy (www.webbatruskin.org).

SHIPPING FORECAST

Sunset on the Isis

Scarlet ibis glide in
to nest for the night
as the swamp breathes a sigh
of relief

Breathes

Bamboo boatmen slide out
from under the house stilts
to scavenge for not yet rotted flesh
reciting the ancient rhyme:

"Visibility poor..."