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
Nice new homes popping up
In large backyards
All around me
Mine old on the outside
Renovated as new inside
Like me
Homes like their owners
Yet, like a hermit crab
Shell expired
Looking for another
Sea floor bare sand
One day a house
To call mine
Somewhere deep
Earth and wilderness
A share house
We cannot divide
Stone cold metropolis
Gruelling southern front
Shades of grey surround
How many colours blue
Can one feel
Without you?
Of utmost importance
To gravitate towards
Such a warm affectionate
Lover kissing skin pink
By evening
Sting but turns earthy
Tones as memory of her
Softens
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
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
It's always raining somewhere
On this island state of heart and mind
Soothing cadence wakes me
Just as dawn breaks
Through the glass
Some look up and say
'No, not again'
Wince and cringe to feel its touch
As if in constant pain
While reaching for clean cup
To sip cool clear water
Its precious gift of life
Nonsensical to resent
As clouds of reasoning
Gather, muster all their strength
Across the wild blue yonder west
I prepare myself my clothing
Covering over my head
To keep warm thoughts in
Not shy of getting wet
A reservoir of feelings
Have overflowed in me
How it weighs more than
Anything on earth
As if pinned by boulders yet
As a child I was lavished
Floated entranced night and day
Even the rain on the surface
Tickled my nose as I inhaled
My young ones now are well and safe
As I sit happily smiling
Even on grey ghost sky days
The forecast may change
But one thing remains
Thoughts of her a spring
Clear, calm, collected
Love like rain
Enveloping my whole body
I dive in tentatively
The cool surface shocks
My skin pricks lightly
My feet shake it off
Pressure builds in ears
Presses on eyelids
I feel the warm embrace
Of weightlessness
It surrounds me
Cradles softly
Like mothers arms
Holds up backflip
Lifts to lie breathing
Grateful for air
Contemplating its gift
Longing of water
Fills my mouth and nose
Ears and hair
Every crevice tenderly
Seal broke free
Finding new colony
Rest on her shores
Till we meet again
Ocean and me
A tidal wave
We all want to
Be bombarded
With love
Post-service
As desert rose
Where the dirt
Lapped up
Falling droplets
Thirst a daily
Familial ritual
Now I turn and see
The high tide mark
Since last week
And beg to breathe
Bloom and grow
Among kindness
Where gentle waters
Steep near
Woolly Tea Trees
By the creek
Quietly
Dunes are meant to wander
Lest they fall prey
To the lure of the ocean
Siren waves pursuing her
Endlessly to smother
May she remain free
For the breeze
Is her lover
When the mountain is invisible
We walk on our memories
Our constant changing sun
Fog lights flourescent white
Guiding us home
While we bide our time
For Western Winds to thrive
To push delirium way out
For the ocean to disperse
Meanwhile hold my hand
Lest we trip on the tip
Of a stone cold moss
Covered path
Delighting in treasures
While they last
You too are one
