from Monash University
Fine poems inside and beautifully presented. I have one:
Tipping Points
The Nyambaga is blue, the sea is blue,
so strollers on the beach don’t worry
about tomorrow – pollution, acidification,
overfishing, rising temperatures, oxygen
depletion, ocean mining, oil spills, marine
noise, habitat destruction, dead zones.
Unconcerned the sea is coming for us
from the thawing Permafrost, Greenland’s
ice sheet collapsing, the West Antarctic
ice sheet fracturing, changes to
West Africa’s Monsoon patterns
and collapse of the Atlantic Currents.
I never fail to appreciate the way the river
sculpts sand-curves and meanders
off Killiecrankie Mountain and the forests
of our Great Dividing spine, the slippery dip
of green ranges unfurling down this coast.
Beauty insists on being in the present
as Dolphins create sine waves, Darters spread
their wings, Ospreys and Sea-eagles float
above the multitude of rays and fishes
and water washing lapis, cobalt, ocean, navy,
with cerulean sky – thinking greenhouse
emissions instead of shouting aqua!
