Earth wounds

Gaping wide mouth
Where tree roots
Would dig deep
Holding still
As wide limbs above
Each to each
Arms and feet
Lungs of earth

Two years of weaving
Words of healing
For the colossal
Wound from atom bomb
Dropped without notice
On my front lawn

Wandering hands and minds
Kept still by tracing
Rainbow threads
Counting stitches
Like memories
Back and forth
In the mind

Still a dream weaver
Handing on silent wishes
In thread form
Head, hands, heart warmers
Binding you to mine
Renovating inside and out
Trading old loves
Possessions for new
Regeneration of seasons
Always changing
Yet standing still

Old growth gums waving
At your window
Since before our kind
Carved their history
Over mother earth
Tattooed seared
Grazing land
Will one day be swallowed
By roots and leaves
Once again
View from Cape Bruny Lighthouse

Fields of imagination

Wandering endlessly through golden ripe
Fields of my imagination
Scenery, smiles and conversation
Willing the future to meet me 
Back at this dream's beginning
Until restless legs and chatting
Stop pining and whistling lips
Biding time 
Woken, surprised, I meditate
Grains of sand between toes
Waves evoking chills down my spine
Patient expectation 
Waiting, hesitating
Drinking in the glorious view
Standing right here before me
Opossum Bay, lutruwita / 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

Tea for two

In fiction I would be
A tea and scones librarian
With a secret archive
The contents of which
Was derived from many
Hours of polite
Conversations
How the mind
May wander
Is a marvellous
Thing indeed
L to R: by Jeff Mincham, Barbara Swarbrick and John Bartram ~ Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery