Samantha is based in Plymouth, UK where she completed an MA in Creative Writing. Her poetry has been published in Acumen and The Storms Journal. She was a highly commended runner up for the 2020 Causley International poetry prize.

Dear S,

You’ve always loved hide and seek. At the Hurlers on Bodmin Moor, you ran on ahead.
When I got to the circle, you were nowhere. I wanted to grab strangers and set up a
search party. Then you poked your head out from behind a stone. At your 20-week
check, just before Christmas, the midwife couldn’t find a heartbeat. At the hospital
another midwife attached a monitor. She said she felt you move, but there were no
blips on the screen. There was no rush to see me, they were busy delivering babies.
Nanny said not to assume the worst while she stared out of the window at a brick wall.
A doctor rubbed cold jelly on my belly and faced the screen away. There’s a heartbeat.
He turned the screen around so I could see you hiding behind the placenta.