Lockdown, Wednesday, Aug 25th

Conditions: Lockdown, blustery, dangerous surf
                                Nyambaga, 25 Aug

Towards the mouth, low tide pools a mirror
offering the sacred Mountain of Yarriabini
but we can hear the noise and soon enough
find the force coming straight towards us.
Between crests the sky blue is sky blue
in contrast to the big sea creased on
the line marking one end of the world.
How far is that? Despite aerial surveillance
and satellite imagery no one is sure.
Where does anything begin after all?
To begin at the beginning is a fairy tale.
Beyond the breakers the blue is the colour
the Puluwat sailed over, unmarked and seamless
secret knowledge named pebbles placed
on the sand, the pattern representing the stars.

After all that time at sea, the breakers are impatient
and charge, force themselves over the bar and
would have eaten this place to the bone if mineral flesh
hadn’t got together and decided to live here forever.