Selke

How wholesome, it was said
We did meet by river bed
Rock pools swirling
Dreaming of past lives at sea.

Our shared love of its creatures
A saltwater one, like me.
Stories of islands, voyages, cabin mates amd treasures found in giant clam shells.

Obsessions with tropical rainforests laden with a kaleidescope of butterflies.

Photographs in our minds of oceans, still as a pool with only the splash of flying fish disturbing the miniscus of brightly lit surface at sunset.

Within weeks, the cracks show

The lives of loves lost at sea a favourite sea shanty

Mine like sleeping volcanoes dotting the edges of tectonic plates all over the Pacific. Yet, their mere breath a flourishing of life, feeding schools of every species ocean wide.

The great diversity of my mind.

I did not lose my skin nor dignity, though sailing too close to the wind.

To one solo creature I hold dear, the ocean many leagues deep knows how far apart love and envy are.

Fair winds and following seas.

Far and wide

Will I set it free?
To wander monsoon streets
Slip into fever dreams
Strap to airplane seats
Will I loosen from its nest
Inside of me?

To fly above swirling schools
Of fish perused
By cephalopods and seals?

Do I secure it soundly within
Cabin walls to sway
In tempestuous swells
Safely in your arms?

Do I unleash this love of mine
Deep-seated divine
Nestled in safe hands
Across unending oceans?

Holding untethered body
In its wake.

Forever residing in waves
That which joins all lands
Far and wide
Joints, muscles and sinew
Within us too.

Sink in

Silvery blue sheen 
A veil covering
Wild creatures deep
Rising to shallows
Flash past my feet
Ray of speckled flight
Effortless grace
Takes my heart skipping
Into the waves
Arise completely changed
Adventure Bay Bruny Island Tasmania

Inner peace

Bobbing on the verge
Southern Ocean
Paddling along the cusp
Apex breeding grounds
Rise and fall tide surge
Rocks inner core
Evading the inevitable
Return to reality
The sea calls to me
Like a lover every
Sleepy morn
Quiet Corner, Adventure Bay, Bruny Island, Tasmania

Shell collector

Centuries of sandy foot prints
Embedded in the shore
Sure steps leading to waters edge
Surveying the rip tide
Wading safely to peel
Tiny creatures away
From their silken kelp
Homes to adorn
Dining tables laced with
Filigree crochet
And tall stories
She places delicate treasures
On her window sill
To recall every
Underwater adventure
The hollow echo
Of the conch's curl
Beckons her to deep
Longing for more
Pearl shines in colours
Glint of eye and
Flash of teeth
Sandy skin soft hairs
Stand on end
As the tide
Her dreamscapes
Roll in