Chilly afternoon,
water warmer than air.
How lucky she is to swim in the ocean today.
Crimson Rosella. Flash of red.
A pair of Sooty Oystercatchers picking around.
At night a call - hoo hoo - hoo hoo - hoo woo. A distant reply.
Boots laced in the early light. Pack shouldered.
Up and over, striding along a muddy trail,
meandering through the light catchers and their armoured props.
Forest floor workers tightly anchored to the decaying,
the gargantuan hover above.
Emerge and cast away.
A river crossing. Boots unlaced.
Tortured seas today.
In the seaweed a Pacific Gull thrashes a fish.
Bush land pathways,
Fern stairways,
Insect kingdoms,
Fanned wiry tendrils,
Leaning paper skins.
Water.
Diluted turquoise,
a gentle colour.
A treacherous sea.
Her birthday.
She is the ocean, the ocean is her,
once, twice, three times, a fourth.
Schools of transparent,
soles tread the colour of snow
A tumble of rocks reflect,
home alongside the creek
Climbing to a lookout,
keeping watch for the tail fins.
Colour changes for goodbyes.
A flourish.
Elated.
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Wilsons Prom - February 2021