Echoes in Time

Girls in ponytails

huddled on the sand

sipped icy sodas

listened to the radio

flirted with lifeguards

dreamt of lives

they’d never have

Boys with peach-fuzz chins

played beach volleyball

ran in the surf

showed off their tans

dreamt of lives

they’d never have

White-haired ladies

huddle around the table

brag about grandchildren

play cards

replay memories and

missed opportunities

they’ll never have again

Balding men

sit by the pool

baste in the sun

play cards

replay memories and

missed opportunities

they’ll never have again

Bright sunlight

chatter and laughter

blue-green water

choppy in the

summer breeze

Days pass

dreams go by

the rhythm of life

plays on

edging towards

another tomorrow

Copyright 2001

Cara Alson

Butterscotch Cat

Butterscotch cat

stretched out

in the dusty road

napping in the sun

ears alert

tail twitching

A car rattles

up the road

slowing, no room to

go around the

butterscotch cat

The car stops

inches away,

the patient driver

staring at the

butterscotch cat

Slitted eyes glaring

head slowly lifting

letting out a

heavy sigh

rising with a

flick of his tail

Begrudgingly

the calico cat

gives up

his place

in the sun

Copyright 2002

Sea-weed half exposed washes
across sharp serrated rocks —
sways and swirls, sways effortlessly,
slips against, over them, indifferent
as tawny coiled sea-snakes twist
in rapid frenzied motion with the sea —
shadows that fade at dusk, submerge
unharmed with the tide.

© debarnes August 2003 -06
***

David Barnes

Shadows and Mist at South Perth

Mists shroud the paperbark copse walkway ahead, and
the swan river behind. At the same time, the high crest
of Kings Park is as vivid as a spring sky. Ahead,
head-hunters hide among the trees and shadows. Behind,
wraith slayers dart, ferries loom.
What use is distant clarity?

© debarnes August -23rd / September 2003 -03
***

Rochelle Hope Mehr

Possession

I feel like I have to fight all the time.
Scratch and claw just to fend off interlopers.
To grub the knotty
Fiber of my roots.
What is there?
No growth.
Just undergrowth.
I yaw.
I clang.
I collide with yin.
I slide hard into yang.
I am neither here nor there.
I transfigure dust into air.
***