Sunrise eyes

Hiding in the shadow
Golden yellow halo
Curls and waves fall
Frame her face
Fixed on me
Two sapphire gems
So blindingly bright
I take pictures
With my mind
Side-glances
While capturing
All the beauty
Earth and sea
In between
Rocky shore
Where still waters
Lap at oyster shells
Wings open to glide
Over river mirror
Reflections everywhere
Stories shared
Held carefully
Between clasped hands
Seaside Wrest Point, Sandy Bay, lutruwita / Tasmania

Tendrils of time

Sweeping to and fro
Pulsing on ribbons
Streamers glistening baubles
Twirling with rising tide
Teasing her threads
Of sterling silver
Platinum
Softly wavering
All is quiet
Eyelids broaden
Peripheral vision
Stunning finds
Laced with regret
Submerged fields
Bottlegreen satin
Thickets thinning
With age old wisdom
Does anyone listen
When seeing nothing
Left for our children?
She paddles solo
As the echo chamber
In my head repeats deafeningly
What's down there?

Wild

Wish only upon constant
Stars in orbit
Planets seen unknown
Determined to absorb
Passing matter
Take onboard
What the universe
Discards to glow
Ever brighter

Cavernous depth explored
Abounds with lights
In darkness
Eyes and luminous
Minibeasts in their
Thousands

Galaxies above and beneath
Still in between
One captures our attention
Immersed in lands
So small one could
Be forgiven for
Passing by without
A second glance
Such as her
Gently weathered words
Eloquently fashioned

If you find this one
Whose wild eyed look
Enhances depth perception
Do not keep hold of her
Let her roam at will
Follow the trail
Of stardust left
In each footstep
So you may live
A life long imagined

Once

If a rare spotted handfish
Washed up on my beach
Barely alive
Would one recognize
How special it is?
If happened upon
Such a find
It would mark my days
Stories and spare time
I'd seek to remove
Every invading sea star
Threatening its home
Plucking them from
Jetties, wharfs
Sea bottom floors
Just to make safe home
For one whom
We only touched hands
Once

Liminal spaces

Perched between barren landscapes 
Far as the eye squints
In the distance
Microscopic life dawns
In open spaces unseen
How we relish the resilience
Of some tiny show
Of leaves stalk reaching
Up for sunlight to ignite
It's open tongued grooves
Into being

Yet we find normalised eugenics
Those who exist between the lines
Of normativity collectivism
Turned aside by one
Derided by two
Abandoned by three
Many mouths to feed
Better defend protect
Turn inside out
Than let another
Take the mantle
When the woman till
Ten works then sleeps
A superior breed
To exist in such
Harsh remote conditions
Of isolation
Yet to grace the pages
Of top ten endemic list
For protection
Women and children
Survival of our species

Fascinator

Brush tipped tongue
Painted button
Curvature of spine
Red eye
Double banded
Red capped
Rarity only adds
To beauty
Why not fascinate
With uniqueness
Of each we meet
Instead pick
Feathers ruffled
To decorate head?

One and only
Every love
A scarcity
Endangered
Do we love
To obtain
Souvenirs
Stories
Take away
A part of me
Thrown about
Carelessly
Adorning
Cafe walls
Could hear