Shark caught in the light from our boat

Friday 30 December 2011

When you find yourself in Paradise, poems flow because everyday language does not suffice.

Those poems are like photographs of fleeting moments: exquisite, ephemeral, light dancing on water, rainbows dancing on the beach…

Late last night two sharks swam figures 8 around our boat. I only spotted them because of the new mast lighting.

This morning we were all on the beach by 8 am, to claim the kayaks that belong to the park rangers.

When we returned the boat, a small bird sat in the cockpit, eating the crumbs of our breakfast. He hopped onto the steering wheel to greet us, completely unafraid.

The best thing of all? There is no reception here, so Dad has become un-glued from his mobile phone!

888
Infinity symbol
Lemniscate
Dance of Infinite Flight
Direct dial to Paradise…

A sudden sound: I am not alone in the main cabin! The little bird has flown in to talk to me. Shortly after the boys arrive back by dinghy. Says Dad: we must get that bird OUT! Says Quinn: ‘No way Dad, that bird has the right to decide where it wants to live … and it wants to live on board!’


THE SOUNDS OF PARADISE (On deck, around 10 pm last night)

A sudden urge
To record
The Sounds of Paradise
Faint echoes of Atlantis
Big fishes circling our boat, doing belly flops
Dancing to
The Song of the Moon

The Pleiades right over our head, perched at the top of our mast
Two children asleep, their dreams breeze around us
But I sense
Quinn’s wakeful silence
A mother’s instinct
Added to the Symphony of Mother Night

In total silence
Two sharks arrive
They too have their place
In Paradise
They too add their song
To the Sounds of Paradise


NEW MOON DIARY

The Orange Moon, appears in the night sky as a luminous spirit ship
A Golden Bull, briefly
Shapeshifts into
The Great Birdman in the sky
Before dropping back into sacred mystery,
Below the horizon of Mother Night


BACK TO BLACK (in tribute to Amy Winehouse)

To think that
While we sleep
Sharks swim inches from our heads
Curious
About that man-make shark
The size of a whale
But where is the dorsal fin?

Then the
Candied orange peel Moon
Sets
Plunging all of Creation into darkness

Husband listens on my i-pod
To BACK TO BLACK…


THE SOUND OF MORNING

So this is the sound of morning
A flying fish walks towards us on its tail
Like a silver ballerina on tip toes
Not quite taking flight
As the wind speed registers as 0.0

The clouds acquire a pink lining
A puddle on the beach turns bright pink
Heralding a birth

Half the Sun
Reflected in a puddle on the beach
Golden sparks
Dancing
So many sparks!

Delivery of a “pecan crunch” granola bar
Elliott gets “chocolate chip”

Yesterday the depth alarm sounded
Repeatedly
Because a huge fish
Passed under our boat
We suspect a Manta Ray


THE SYMPHONY OF MORNING

Of waves rolling in
And the Sun riding up
Oh-AH!
Oh-AH!

Of birds talking on the beach
Children squabbling below deck
Oh-AH!
Oh-AH!

The song of morning stars unseen
Of Mars and of Saturn
Oh-AH!
Oh-AH!

Of Berenice’s Hair
And the Herdsman in the Sky
Oh-AH!
Oh-AH!

Invisible but present
They too sing their song
Oh—AH!
Oh-AH!

I comb my mermaid’s hair
On deck, on deck

THE SYMPHONY OF MORNING


ON THE BEACH AT 8AM

A brandnew morning
The beach swept clean
To welcome another day
Only the tiny footprints
Of a rodent
Soon accompanied
By Brendans’ small footprints

A Dance
The Dance of Life!

Brendan’s Sand City
Was swept away
Only conch shells remain
To visit
We need to dive
Who says Atlantis does not exist?!

A Dance
The Dance of Life!

Not far from here
The Bimini Steps rest
Road to
Ancient sacred mystery
A shark noses around
Moves on
Sharks don’t need steps
And neither do dolphins

A Dance
The Dance of Life!


REBUILDING ATLANTIS

Brendan sets himself the task
Of rebuilding Atlantis
The skeleton of the sperm whale
Grunts just once

The Big Brothers in their kayaks
Request permission
To enter the harbour

Permission granted
One oar is used
To dig a moat
Around Atlantis

The morning sun
Lights the Bimini Steps
The Ocean sings

Atlantis
Rebuilt in a day
And that night
Once again washed away…


DAD

Dad paddles out to sea
In a bright green kayak
And orange top
That says WORK LESS

Shall I take a photograph
To show him
The statement he makes?
Can he read his own tracks?!


GLYPH IN THE SAND

I draw a lemniscate on the beach
Use conch shells as walking stones

As the tide comes in
Waves lick the glyph
Reclaim the ground

The lemniscate
Moves between worlds

In the sand
Under water

The glyph shifts, dances, exists
Outside space and time


SAVE ME (NOT)!

Elliott in kayak
Paddles out to sea
Disappears behind the headland
Quinn reports
He can’t get back
Carried along
by the strong current

Dad to the rescue
In the dinghy

Elliott in kayak
Reappears from behind the headland
Shrieking loudly
Raising his oar as a weapon
Some people
Can’t be saved from themselves…

By Imelda Almqvist