Southern Cross

To bear
Not to blame
Open the gates
Running away
Pointing star
Toward the void
Seemingly endless
Space between us
In the silence
Flag flying
Falls and furls
To the ground
Fences down
She crosses over
Settlers land
Like she always did
On Bruny Island
Feet tread lightly
Lately leaders
Learn to follow
Across fallow fields
On her heels
Cotton wool covering
Envelopes the sky
Carpeted canopy
Of green lay over
Caress of waves lap
At the edges
This is her land
Forever

Somewhere only we know

Where on this earth
Is there a place to call home?
With resting silence
Chattering streams
Sounds of chirping
In the groves
Do we climb a mountain
And take a ride down
On the rainbow?

Deep blue grey eyes
Watch same coloured clouds
Drift heavily towards us
Like moving mountains
Though weightless to our eyes
Powerful forces hold them
In the sky

A bridge that divides
Also unites
Seasoned minds recall
The day it came down
After rolling the dice
On their way home
So their lives revolve
Staying on side
Never daring to cross
For fear of remembering
Nervously teetering
On edge of floating bridge
Sea spray enveloping
Same waters harmlessly
Tickle toes
At Opossum Bay

We make it look easy
To love
Because we know
Anything else
Than familiarity
Is beyond us
Confronting disparity

If we met by chance
- How many people on this earth? -
Would lady luck allow
Another turn
To find one other
Standing beside
In a place
Made for us

Love like

A manicure
Constantly tending
Ever growing
Uncomfortable process
Paring and smoothing
Rough edges
Common trait of humanity
Yet individual as
A fingerprint
Love an identity
Caring regularly
Outward sign of
Healthy nurture
Nourishment
Beautiful accessory
To extend
To hold
In another's
Hand

Pleiades

Dancers in dusky streetlight
Seven forms converge
Reflecting blue
Evading the darkness

Superceded by
Spectacular collisions
Supernova sky

In the millions
Years of stillness
Like one looked
In the mirror

Saw the other
Longing to look within
Each other
Forever

Live like
No tomorrow
Casting stars
Into orbit
For a hundred thousand
Tomorrows

Light years end
Replaced by dark nebula
Crash course time and again
Pressing upon the moment
Tales trail behind

A particle of dust
Floats by
Miniature universe
Beyond our eyes

Flow

To have words trampled
Beneath the cart wheels
On the streets
of old St Petersburg
Crimes a mystery
Hung backlit
By brazen streetlight
Broken, worn, blue
Time it takes
To decide ~ are they done?
Will they heal?
Slowly drip feeding
Stew of broth
Building marrow
Until the shine
In the eyes returns
Upon hearing
A chorus
Seeing a glorious
Image of affection
At mere mention
A novel moment
Produces a turrent
Cascading into
Rivers winding
Bringing life
Bearing it to sea
Setting free

Finders keepers…

So simplistic were the rhymes
Of my childhood
Aesop and Mother Goose
Taught me how to be good
Kind and wise
Avoid Miss-Understood

Yet, they did not share with me
In black and white ink
How to dare to care 
When life is on the brink
Of falling in and down
Afraid there is no settling

The nesting and pruning
Of love birds in tune
With one another
Humdrum forgetting
Singing, fanning plumage
Making room

If you should find a lover
Try to keep her hand
But if lost remember -
Not to weep for
The Summer nights
On a cold, dark night
in June.

Ruffled

Pure delight
Little fingers find
Feathery treasure
Waving its finery

We shed parts
Of ourselves
For friends keep
To admire

In sharing
They grow
Lighter
Fly higher

Lament
Those of us
Left behind
Artists of Tasmania ~ Lucienne Rickard, loss of wildlife on Lord Howe Isl. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.