Finding Sanctuary Read online

  ***~~~***

  In Godzona

  seasons cycle in reverse,

  sun sets in the East,

  moons rise in the West,

  a labyrinth of lakes reflect

  stands of beech, poplar, pine;

  ladies alighting in a line,*

  men in red feather cloaks

  swing from ropes in giant trees,

  feast on roots, shoots, leaves,

  birds burrow on the ground,

  lay eggs with a hairy husk,

  chorus into song at dusk,

  Time turns inside out,

  days darker than night

  reveal a chaos of delight.

  (* refers to the painting Ladies of the Lake by Rob Gonsalves)

  ***~~~***

  Birdsong

  Cu.coo…

  Cu.coo…

  Coo…coo…coo..?

  Coo…Coo…

  Coo…Coocoo…

  Coo…cu.coo.coo…

  Coo.cucoo…coo…coo…

  Coo…coo…

  Coo…coo…

  Ccoooooo…

  ***~~~***

  Festival Season

  The two-toned bird offered

  to share her hole

  in the old volcano cone.

  When the rest arrived

  I thought I’d wandered

  into paradise.

  Flight feathers strewn

  like rainbow confetti,

  littered the blue lagoon.

  Six weeks of bliss,

  then a shrill call, COO!

  she erupted with the flock.

  ***~~~***

  Night Walker

  At first I revelled

  in the extra space,

  rejigged the pattern

  of night and day,

  watched stars track

  across the skies,

  took long dust baths

  and afternoon naps,

  fished for hours

  by the land-locked lake,

  caught my reflection

  in the Hunter moon,

  wished I could call you back,

  cu.coo…cu.coo…cu.coo…

  ***~~~***

  Deluge

  Water gushes from all sides,

  thunders through gorges

  and gulleys,

  transforms rivers

  into torrents of teal,

  turquoise and lime,

  crashes ashore

  in a swirl of wood,

  stone and bone.

  ***~~~***

  Alien Rock

  A lime fossil from the seabed,

  A pineapple crossed with a grapefruit,

  A lava bomb stitched like a medicine ball,

  A turtle shell studded with barnacles,

  A Jurassic Jerusalem artichoke,

  A fallen star stranded on shore,

  A rolled up skin scored by time,

  A petrified basked washed from a wreck,

  A stone heart ripped from a giant’s chest,

  A Faberge egg encrusted with kelp.

  ***~~~***

  Cracked

  Startled by a crack

  I stood transfixed

  as sulphur hissed

  and ochre oozed

  through a thousand splits

  in your mottled shell,

  swallowed the truth

  as you emerged

  in the scaly coat

  of a harlequin.

  ***~~~***

  Rainbow Serpent

  Iris the name I chose,

  goddess of joy and light,

  brought you fruit and nuts

  until you took to fish,

  watched you twist and turn

  through the briny pools,

  realised the risk

  of fluttering around,

  could not bear to part -

  then you sloughed a skin,

  sprouted bat like wings,

  coughed up sparks of flame.

  I knew the hour had come

  for me to move away.

  ***~~~***

  Fly Away Home

  I was building a new hide

  when you plucked me from behind

  spiralled up into the starlit sky,

  veered by the dark of the moon,

  picked up the smell of burning coal,

  zigzagged with the plume.

  As day dawned I recognised

  the rise and fall of old slag heaps,

  white-washed cottages, patchwork fields,

  was stunned when you dropped me

  in the place I once called home,

  left to find family of your own.

  ***~~~***

  Address Unknown

  I should have been alerted

  when the doorbell played

  a different tune.

  The stranger said you moved,

  some time ago,

  left no forwarding address,

  I reeled into freefall,

  stuttered cucucu,

  coocoocoo, cucucu.

  ***~~~***

  Into the Pit

  My legs cramped,

  guts churned,

  ribs ached,

  heart burned,

  teeth clenched,

  eyes blurred,

  ears buzzed,

  head pulsed,

  soul drained

  into the pit.

  ***~~~***

  Confined

  My life has shrunk

  into the confines

  of an ensuite room.

  Locked into celibacy

  and silence, I withdraw

  into watercolour,

  blank out the sound

  of voices raised

  in this cuckoo’s nest,

  express myself

  in a gallery of insects,

  trees and wildflowers,

  wait for a rook,

  raven or crow

  to call me home.

  ***~~~***

  In the Stillness

  Held in suspense,

  like a river between tides,

  I scry the depths,

  reflect a familiar face,

  turned back to front

  and upside down,

  absorb the image,

  before it fades

  with the new flow.

  ***~~~***

  Finding Sanctuary

  The Watchers may have gone

  but there is still one

  who looks through the sockets

  of the dragon’s death mask,

  tarnished by the elements

  and the passage of time.

  I cross the threshold

  into a twilight world

  where muted voices echo

  off sandstone pillars;

  babels of fears,

  hopes and dreams.

  Senses amplified by the toll

  of the sanctuary bell,

  I wander vaulted corridors~

  frequented by souls

  as unburnished

  as the brass door knocker.

  Alone in the cloisters,

  laid out on the site

  of the old white church

  I find peace and respite.

  ***~~~***

  Porte Disparu

  No relic, no heirloom,

  no record of birth,

  no urn, no grave,

  or memorial,

  one red feather,

  the single trace

  of a life long-lived,

  lost in the Silence.

  About the Author