Poems
A record of thanks
Considering that
I feel ill standing on a wharf
watching boats rock’n roll
invariably
throw up at sea
withdraw the contents
of my stomach on light aircraft
I’d like to thank
whoever is responsible for
the earth’s airpocketless revolutions
A natural shot
Owing to the existence of a sewage
outfall: no fishing, swimming, or
collecting shellfish in this vicinity
Shellfishing over for the day
oyster catchers congregate
along the shore
Penguins suitably suited
for the evening surf onto
the beach
Slumbering seals sift sand
as a wedding party
blinks into view
Veil billowing over breakers
the photographer
aims for a
natural shot. The incoming tide
indicates it may be more
natural than anticipated
Dentists ’n things
We met for lunch today,
our school holiday special, dipping
in and out of conversational soup,
recalling a book we’d recently read,
reckoning the grief had been birthed
not researched
She’d lived through a loss
such as yours, the descriptions aligning
Fine threads connected our drifting
conversation: wedding rings, tinnitus
and music
Observing our dentist ordering lunch
we laughed at how many of those
we’d paid for. Our mouths playing host
to her instruments, while listening to
her solo performance
Mindful of childhood warnings
we couldn’t respond to her many
questions until our mouths were emptied
By then our answers were irrelevant,
she had only been filling a gap