beach sand
in tiny piles
all over the floor
is never a mess
but a track back
to the sea

South Gippsland

today South Gippsland
flowering gums
orange and red
roadside beacons
like our city neon signs

The Pink Flamingo and the Pelican

tonight sitting by the caravan park pool
with the blow up pink flamingo--
a pack of young boys
clamber in the pool
to tip each other over--
the plastic grass is soaked in chlorine
and sun burnt bodies are dressed
in fringed spangled swimwear--
a pet ostrich pecks
at fake grass insects--
I swim myself back to the lake
last night where spoonbills sifted mud
and we swam in the soft rippled quiet
watching a pelican carry the sun down

tonight--
a puddle of moon
on dry grass

swimming through
constellations--
how tiny our seas

out on the lake
black swans glide
on a smooth, silver course
and industry carves
the horizon

riding our bikes
alongside factories
we watch the sun set
on rows
of broken windows