Tuesday, June 10, 2014

The Whitsundays (sketches, photos, poems)

















White sails cut sharp slice
Between sea and sky
A thin slit leaks shining silver
Glittering - mercury skittering,
Skating points of light
Carried high on turquoise crests
Wobbled forth by sloppy swell,
The kayaks rock and bob like bath toys
We bounce and sway
To the uneven slap of heavy water on hull,
Long fingers of spray curl over bow-lines
Salty slosh cakes in creases
And forms crusts on cuffs
Of nylon and neoprene

~

Confused waves rebound from salt-sculpted sea cliffs,
Rippling ridges rise and crumble
Into frothing avalanches of foam
Driven into deep troughs,
Turned around by erratic winds,
My companions gradually shrink
Until they are specks in the distance
I am alone with the ocean
Sometimes it seems I am inching forward
Other times all I can do is bend and brace -
To absorb the changing moods of the sea as she moves beneath me,
Reminding me that I am just another visitor - 
Flotsam, debris,
To be tossed and tumbled, whittled and worn
Like so many smooth pebbles scattered on the shore

~

I stare down, lost in the vastness below
When, out of the abyss, a blurry brown disc emerges,
Four graceful flippers come into focus,
I watch the slow upward spiral of the turtle
I catch my breath as the giant surfaces - 
Catch a glimpse of a wise, ancient eye
Then the turtle dives -
Gone as quickly as it came...
But I still see its ancient eye staring back at me
Every time I begin to think I am alone with the ocean

Annika Romeyn 19-27/4/14