Poetry

Hump-back in a huff and a puff you loll
bask in the waves sighing, pitching your tail
curling to hide some bad mood as you roll
over surface so still you tip, slide and sail…

I live in my father’s garden
celebrate our conversations
summer lighting up the roses
pink carnations spreading scents and memory.
Crocuses – another spring –
we talk of children growing up
summer seeping through our thoughts
I hold …

You never would imagine he could close up like that,
like an oyster, wrinkled mouth sealed shut
contours of hermetic rock.

I tried to prize him out of his privacy,
bore through the crustaceous shell
but everyone told me he was impenetrable.

…