A River of Stones 30. Unwritten Records

Sulphur-crested cockatoos
like a book full of torn
blank white pages,rise
on a thermal above a grove
of farm trees.
I make a mental note.

A River of Stones 29. Opportunist

a lone sparrow
forages along the car's
front grille - how many locusts
might be caught here?

A River of Stones 28. Her Scarecrow

As we skirt around washaways
and exclaim at uprooted trees,
flattened reeds, the loudness
of running water still a foot deep
on the causeway, she tells me
how she cleaned out the shed
assembled a scarecrow out of
wooden remnants of antique
furniture. "It will have swinging
legs! And arms!" says her
daughter. With all the rain we've
had, he will be busy, guarding
a runaway garden, vegetables
flourishing while the rivers clean
dirty beds, slept in too long.

A River of Stones 27. Work

the butterfly, as big as
the back of my fist
explores my fernery
its flapping loud enough
to scare off prey

A River of Stones - 26. Australia Day Party Vignette

In Kings Domain
a princely singer
and choir thank us,
thank our country
for allowing them
to live lives they love.
Teary eyes thank them
for this soaring, hearty
song of gratitude.

A River of Stones - Catching Up 20 - 25

At last! My new computer is operational.

20. No time to see the small stone
      only the small computer.
      Or large i-phone.
      My fingers, typing, make art
      of selection. 

21. The day before a weekend.
       My son shouts me a smorgasbord.
       Celebrating a birthday
       fattening.

22. Now my ex-husband advises
      on the treatment of couch grass.
      I am inspired by the possibility
      of several solutions at once.

23. Floods must have drowned
      millions of frogs and fish.
      Such benign glinting waters.
      So much tragedy we
      haven't witnessed.

24. But what about the people! you say.
      How large we are, how communal.
      What about the frogs, fish, spiders
      washed to oblivion?

25. The Man, the Dog, and the Ball

       All you need is
       a lightweight round brown ball
       a small white short-haired dog
       a man in his back yard, smoking
       and a fenceless tract 
       of emerald grass
       to see how thrilling
       the chase is.

A River of Stones 19. Another spider

striped legs, she says,
and this big! i was caught
in strong threads
that sticky web of admiration
and irritation

A River of Stones 18. Ferns

as darkness falls
the ferns fan the night air
reaching beyond the shade cloth
to dull clouded light

A River of Stones 17. Neighbourly

my neighbours' hedges and vines
come to visit; like visitors you like
to return, they bring gifts: shade
and blurred boundaries.

A River of Stones 16. The Hug that was a Hum

We volunteered at the annual festival of singers in our region.
After the last concert, where workshop groups entertained each other
with renditions of gospel, appalachian, georgian and british song,
we formed three circles, creating a chant for peace. And then the very well-known
and deservedly well-loved leader of that circle song invited staff and volunteers
to assemble in the middle, in the heart of the three-hundred-strong circle.
It is really enough that someone says thank you and you can see the results
of your work, but this time we received a "sonic hug" - arms of harmonic sound
surrounded us, filled the entire town hall, entered our pores, our cells,
altered our chemistry. I have never been so thoroughly drenched in gratitude.

A River of Stones 15. The highway, after floods

the mirage of water
running ahead
always on high ground
and vanishing

A River of Stones 14. Blue

we have sky again
a view of the great beyond
bigger than our back yards

A River of Stones 13. Broadcast

switched on the tv
could smell the mud
the mess the morass
the mothers

A River of Stones 12. More about incessant rain

waterlogged
inundated
the drought
drowned out

A River of Stones 11. Rivers

driving lesson
merging lanes
rivers kissing
your tyres
rain that loves you

A River of Stones 10. Plenty of Water

how can such a flat continent
keep so much water trapped?

i think of the floods
the imminent floods
the peaking floods
my mind brims, spills
over

and here, down south, my
shade cloth drips

A River of Stones 9. The Effect of Rain

Along the highway,
still stalking their individual teritories
the ravens are rain-roughened, ruffled
unruffled by not looking so sleek.

A River of Stones 8. Life's Too Short

the web anchored with wiry thread
flaps like a curtain, high above me

the spider is just an ordinary large spider
dancing on the swinging web

dawn's gold has painted this body
how pleased i am to watch the aerial show

i remove gardening gloves
walk into the house, turn around

the spider has vanished

A River of Stones

A message to all my stone collecting fellows -
my laptop has given up on internet and I am using a work one
but I can't use it to read your stones and save addresses
i will catch up, i feel bereft, but i will catch up

A River of Stones 7. Hea(r)t

hear the heat
cracking the house's joints
feel it
reaching through your walls
gripping you
so softly

A River of Stones: 6. Patio

Blowsy roses on long stems
reach out from sheltered life
to bare exposed cream bricks
and the exciting adventures
ants have promised await
those who venture outside
comfort zones.

Or do they simply seek
water and light?

A River of Stones 5. Morning Walk

A.

one prickly bush embroidered with
cyclamen and buttercup yellow blooms


B.

small grey bird
dead on the asphalt
neatly folded

A River of Stones - 4. The Large Lone Ant

who are you looking for?
why are you alone?
where is your community?
o large inquisitive one

A River of Stones - 3. Agapanthus

flowering in flocks
defying the odds
tough survivors

A River of Stones - 2. Getting Rid of the Rubbish

Transfer Station bins
swallow 10 bags of weeds
4 cubic metres of junk

a sparrow skims lightly
the cleared space

A River of Stones - 1. Walking to the Shop for a Newspaper

caught in summer's sudden shower
the water-web wrapping me
in happy paralysis