Written on 25/12/07
Pohatu Marine Reserve, Banks Peninsula , New Zealan d
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| Pohatu, Christmas Day 2007. I wrote the poem with this view to inspire me |
Detritus litters the pebbles heaped up against the low eroding cliffs,
Gulls swooping and screeching, scavenging the sea breeze that gives them their lift,
The ripples in the sand tell of yesterday's tides and winds,
And expose more evidence of the struggle of life to its ends.
Two fury seals scratch and flop on the rocks above the sea,
One lives on to open his doey eyes and chase his morning's glory,
But last night the other perished giving birth to a white coated babe,
Her features now frozen in an expression that will never fade.
The waves break on the beach like soldiers now forgotten,
The geese and the cormorants look on with never a change of expression,
The sun passes over the green hills giving warmth to all the survivors,
But the corpses on the beach become rank, flea bourne harbours.
A lone bent man silhouettes against the blue-grey horizon,
His lines caught in the seaweed strewn rocks below him,
As his tiny black hull moves to and fro beneath his feet,
He struggles to keep his balan ce and his task to complete.
As he heaves and pulls and frowns at his life's meager existence,
More weed and litter are raised but only offer more resistance.
His lines now utterly lost, try to haul him down into the deep,
But rather than join the muscles, he chooses to free his hard fought keep.
The sweat rolls into his eyes as he lays spreadeagled in the bottom,
His curses and his efforts are now all completely forgotten,
As his laughter builds and bounces along the waves to the rugged shore,
Where now towards he pulls, and tomorrow he will come for more.
As he passes the rocks where the fury seals are playing,
He glances across to the beach where the dead seal is laying,
That yesterday gave so much promise of joy and potential pleasure,
When she came ashore to give up her life's rich treasure.
Distracted by this scene, the fisherman allowed his hull to waiver,
Then the ever rolling waves gathered all at once together,
His life turned upside down and his treasure now in white foam,
He scrambled ashore hull-less, fishless and utterly alone.
He left bare footprints as he shuffled up the beach,
Past the dead and the living and the gulls crescendoed screech,
On top of the low cliffs, he turned to view his disaster,
One simple mistake and his life was turned upside down forever.
