The special two

The special two
Who walk idly
Along the beach
In their imagination

Smiling at passersby
Holding hands
Greeting fellow
Furry four-leg friends

A woman's worth
Measured in beats
Of our hearts
Glad to be alive

She spies her love
Like a sweet secret
A jar of pear drops
Hidden entreat

Seeking waterfalls
Watching them spill
Away to sea
Feelings cascade
Endlessly
Portait by Lily Allport – Artists of Tasmania, Allport Museum and Art Gallery, State Library of Tasmania.

Crimson kiss

Would I be amiss
To ask you
As the rain
Washes through
Opening again
Until the summer
Scorches us
We hide away
Missing crimson
Pea flower
At Christmas
Kennedia prostrata, (Running postman) – Native flowers of Tasmania. Maria Isl.

A woman’s worth

As hours expire 
Gazing window view
Love of labour retire
Labour of love renew

Little surprises find
As a couple appeal
Acknowledge fine hands
That made our meal

Return home to kiss
Heads upward bent
Work to prepare
A meal among friends

A satisfied look
Falls on tired faces
Giving love and life
Into all open spaces

The one who mistook

Their wife for a hat
A child for a cat
A lover for a bat
A friend for a mat

Sensibilities
Surrounded by
Seratonin
Someday fades

Why not instead
See streets of gold
Homes of gingerbread
Chocolate rivers

Smooth sailing comes
When you find your crew
Will you take me
As I am?

*The Man who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, a book by Oliver Sacks.
Sandy Bay, lutruwita/ Tasmania, Australia

A way with words

No matter how well
They're put together
Words have a way
Of leading astray

Down rabbit holes
Up Toad's willows
In dark with mole
Long on the nose

On the run again
Like Banksia men
Up and out
Flying elephant spout

High as a kite
With a bosom friend
Try as we might
Gone round river bend

We offer our cheers
To a friend big ears
Lift off in the sky
On a lemonade high

Still to return
From doldrums we yearn
Come dally with me
Round the giving tree

Brave is the one
With words so few
But ears and arms
To live stories
With you

By Emma Haynes and Lilian James

Strange fruit

Know them 
By their fruit
They say
Pulling faces
Wind will change
When it does
We wonder why
Young lives lost
Hide deny
If every one
Unrealised love
Why then some
Love undone?
Jousting words
Soft as soap
Twist of knife
Antidote?
To love unmeasured
Uncontained
Boundless free
Love makes a way

Love like

A waratah
My favourite
By far
Opening fingers
Delicious red
Planted firmly
Sandy bed
No need
For nurture
Spoil or fuss
No matter how
She tempted us
Hardy yet
Delicate
Glorious
Display
To rival
A rose
In her own
Stunning way

Unspoken pain

Unspoken pain
Furls the brow
Like tectonic plates
Left and right brain
Colliding

Tears and words
Flooding rain
Eroding sharp precipice
Smoothing softening
Cascading

Deep richness
Exposed openly
Filtering through
Luscious soil
Creating