POETRY

Haystack Board walk

 

Higher than the house

Dad places,

tight rectangles of sweet, dry, hay.

Interlocking patterns form,

– to make sure that they stay together  –

 

Clasping my sister’s smaller hand,

we stroll along wide boards.

Twisted fragments of dried grass,

hitch to cloth, tickle bare skin.

 

Arms spread like wings, inching downwards

encouraging her I say,

– this is how you do it, follow me –

Splinters drive home as she slides down.

 

©Lisa Essler 2021

Darken the night

 

 

Cherish the dark,

indigo to ebony.

A star, a crescent,

against raven authenticity.

 

Lambent lamps glow,

blend into jet,

hazing the eyes,

from the Empyrean.

 

Clarity,

pristine onyx, Luna,

sliver to a swollen whole.

Let it be.

 

Clear black,

No blazing light,

noxious to the night.

Bring it back.

Creek

 

In the heat of summer                                          

I follow the path                                          

seek dense shade                                       

beside the creek

 

Time alone

at last.                                                

 

Gnarled as a gumtree                                

I to cling to steep banks     

battle for space with thick

tea tree and blackberry                              

 

Flagging

I arrive.

 

Perch on a fallen trunk                                           

sink bare feet in cool, silty water              

ringed with rocks                 

I rest in shadow                                                       

 

Unknot

my core.

 

Rich minutes alone, before

‘Mum’ reaches my ears

scramble, slide, lithe limbs thump

my son lands beside me

Sighing

I look.

 

A smile brightens

his upturned face

I would change nothing

to have this moment.

©Lisa Essler 2022