Marina Gertsen
AFTER RESORPTION
Three prongs of three, the maple leaf sits
strong on the triband flag. She holds
a recently laid real leaf, russet red
in her miniature hand. Eyes look up,
deep honeyed pools seek my delight.
She is the sun to my synthesis:
shared sap that flourishes, then returns
and nourishes me, as she becomes
rich, and ready to catch the wind.
SHEILA, PORTSKERRA
We used to be so active
hiking, wild camping –
She shows me her hands
swollen, now
with the holdfasts of arthritis
thick joints, knotted like seaweed
The slipway is in sight:
​
an amber ramp, lined
with caution signs, rusted
from the passing weather
and time
She gifts me her golden ring
that she can no longer wear.
Marina Gertsen is completely Scottish despite her misleading name. She lives in Inverness, where she is raising her two young children while working part-time and shoehorning in time to write and paint.
A former student of both Glasgow University and Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen, Marina worked as a freelance digital designer in a previous life, across Glasgow, Aberdeen and London.
Having spent her formative years living in Canada, from the age of one to seven, Marina's poetry explores themes of identity, belonging and roots. She's also been working on a novel for a ridiculous number of years, exploring dysfunctional family relationships, which was selected for Creative Scotland's 'Our Voices' programme in 2021, and occasionally gets the dust blown off it for another wee edit.
Marina's work often links back to her academic research from art school, exploring how we perceive our relationship with the natural world, and examining how our cultural background influences these perceptions. She was delighted to be involved in Helen Denerley's Haiku Sphere, writing one of the haikus welded into this beautiful artwork.
Marina works for Moniack Mhor Writing Centre and enjoys helping others access writing courses and retreats. She is also a member of the monthly Moniack Mhor Poetry Group.
​Marina's website is at: