Heart berry

Hidden among limbs clothed
In green velvet gowns
Dripping in accoutrements
Of fernage, of fungi

A trickle gapens wide
To underground flow hastily
Growing in karst caves
Miles long - race to river shores

Ancient faces, bearded features
Embedded in sapling lined hill
Look up to pinnacle source
Drink liquor distilled by leaves

Minutiae of life abounds
Hiding from hurried eyes
Passing giant foot too blind
- by black shapes bound to hand and wrist -
To see them thrive

Once the orchid eye is in
Become a clumsy giant
Clambering in, too easily
Destroying tender offspring

Sprinkling pathogens from soles
Wiping out whole colonies
After a solitary visit
Gaping mouthed outsider capturing souls in images

Thinking of this and parallels
The heart propagates compassion
It dangles on new vine
White heart berry ripening in time

Junee Caves Walk, Maydena Tasmania

Come out

In the lee of Summer Solstice 
Tell oneself to breathe
In and out repeatedly
No more holding on
To each one
The days are ticking down again
Walk abreast the self-assured waves
Kissing sun on white speckled canvas
Laid bare for once
Turn around
People multiply in the wake
Rubbery tops of jelly fish
Bounce off finger tips
Salty drink for skin
Slips soft around
Tender clefts of limbs
Hopefully loved
Sun kiss, towel hug
Me and my own company
Thinking upon
Just once
The one presiding over
The bay upon balcony
Head dipped in serenity
Some adventure in there
Waiting to come out
Hinsby beach on Christmas Eve, Taroona Tasmania

Ascribe greatness

The world contained
Some useful frames
For understanding
Evolution

A deep scientific wariness
Of ascribing human emotions
To other species

More than one whale biologist
Believe these species
Feel love more
Than humans

- quote from 'Why are we like this: an evolutionary search for life's big answers' by Zoe Kean, New South, 2024.
Fossils at Sticks and Stones, Shells and Bones, Stanley Tasmania