Getting to know local inhabitants
there is no ordinary thing
the wind’s song in the she oaks drip of gold
on a pelican’s wing the whip-bird tease
the silver meddle of fish on the lake
encounters with magpie and wren, turtle and swan
ancient rocks and shift of tide
this is the joy of discovery
with snake-like neck the cormorant dives
the ibis clings awkwardly
to a branch on the Norfolk 
the grey heron feeds in the light
under the brood of hills and
stillness of lake.
here is good energy to live by
each scene is startling
and poetry
to meet with hands open wide
knowing when we look
there are surprises –
other things to come
the heron’s pickax-beak wakes the stillness
wobbling the boats tied by the boatshed
the ibis lands down on the overflowing bin
and just when we are caught
in the moment
a reminder nothing is permanent
the cormorant surfaces to float idley
the grey heron cranks up
and flies into the sun
and we are left with the longing
for more of the extraordinary
or what now do we hold in our open hands?
