Trembling knees, wringing hands
Short of speech, time demands
Nervous smile, staring gaze
Waking in a temporal haze
Awe of vast firmament
Cloudless starstruck night in tent
Firmly does the body know
Love of wild ancient lands does grow
This Old Love, seafaring ship
Of finest wood &
Craftsmanship
Its maiden voyage
Some four years hence
When feral seas drove us West
I've sailed her all around the world
Docked in places ne'er afore found
Secure at anchor, I'd explore
Wonders of the world unfold
Through rocky isles and coral reefs
Its bow has turned me safe to keep
All precious cargo
Fit and well
Squabbling over fine ship's bell
The final storm, the wrecking one
Wind whipped sail and broached hull
She turned us in to sheltered bay
The weight of shore broke her away
We battled through torrential rain
Huddled in the bow all day
Then clear, still morn
Sun did arise
All our crew woke in surprise
Old Love was gone to seabed reef
For seals and manta rays to sleep
We walked ashore and carried on
Mountains climbed, beaches swum
Though many tales I have to tell
Of Old Love's ventures riding swell
A ghost ship now
No one believes
Such vessels are imaginary
I tip my hat, to one who'll come
To sail away into the sun
For tinker, sailor, Captain be
This Old Love was made by me
A Blue Gum tree
Giants of the forest, we
Begin well-covered cap of seed
With strength to sprout
Show tender leaf
Idle as the years unseen
Camouflaged by wattle screen
Delicate orchids settle 'tween toes
Fungi covers underclothes
Ten years on, it shoulders weight
Peeping out of covershade
Creamy flowers dripped with leaf
Birds to nest, possums to feast
Straight of trunk
Strength of wood
Nor let it be
Misunderstood
Not hops or apples
Poppies or vines
Thriving in these
Cooler climes
A love like this
It must take time -
Precious specimens
You and I
A dandelion
Much despised
Hardy flower
For every dig
Sows more seed
Until it spreads
Its reedy feet
All over neighbours'
Fallow field
A tincture tea
To pep the heart
Set flight in spring
A work of art
As little copters
Spin on breeze
To plant ungovernable
Bright young weed
A skein of yarn
Can simply not run free
If tugged or pulled
Will surely wrap
In tangled knots of weeks
Gently lift
Like pick up sticks
To unwind tenderly
All to work it
Round about
To clothe
Bitter westerly
Will I get to see you
Wear my favourite jumper
Until it's threadbare
After all..?
In the vein of Ovid's Remedia Amoris
Don't let me near a bumblebee
A lizard, owl or slimy leech
No butterflies or hilltop scree
Invertebrates nor anemone
Away with bells of pink or white
Dangling in the dappled light
No trudging through the crunchy snow
Or campstove fires in cabins glow
Pandani, fagus, kangaroo grass
If you want to air the grief
Far away from nature's best
Put this cure-all to the test
Nature lover, wandering free
One never forgets an ecologist!
Humanity divided
By shade and hue
If only so inspired
What art we could do
Only comes out
On coldest days
Wild wind snaps
My face into shape.
Any passing stranger
Notices cool change
Friends embrace
Challengers turn tail.
It holds space
Though never filled
Gravitates to places
Where eyes first locked
Pockets turned inside out
Lint was spilled.
Gaze darts from butterflies
To fleeting smiles
Peering through the aisles
Of best sellers.
Silent goodbyes
Are all that linger now.
Hesitant
Tentative
When the hurt is all you had left
Step into grove of golden flowers
Tread the path that leads
To roaring waves defending sea
Hear the words fall upon soft ground
Mingling with memories of another
Gently lapping morning tide
Safe harbour sunlit, teeming with new life
Steer your own way out
Return to me, steady turn of rudder
Double back if your heart is sore
Come alongside save rocky shore.
Count the stars of heaven 