PEARL BAY
Aboard Island Girl
the sea at 360
Under Sails of white,
somewhere extraordinary
Via hidden entrance south
secret inlet: intrigue.
adjacent islands spiky topped;
downward cascades of green,
Casuarinas lean.
Between tides, and calm;
under anchor and chain
Alone, save for rocks and trees:
ancient tapestries.
Adjacent to starboard; transparent tulle:
a Dugong whirlpool…
Plus coral over there;
Staghorn, brain and plate.
Within crimson snapper, sea snake.
Regarding sunset: all pearly pink and violet;
together moon and sun circlets;
behind a metallic mountain silhouette.
Across shimmer and surface,
across rythym and rip,
Under a line, forever sharp and thin,
mysteries within,
As the sea also has space for jewels.
Pearl Bay Sept 2023
Karen Leigh Rogers
BEACH TRACK 25 to ABay
Walking the sandy back track to Alexandria bay
We’re quiet, we’re tuning to the rhythm of the bush
the happy crackle and crunch of gum litter under our feet,
we disturb birds and lizards, sharp noises, invisible small things.
A wallum scrub hedge on the leeward side is brittle, Australian and grey;
it’s our secret, our private track now.
At the crossroads we take the right towards the sea
An army of Grass trees marshalls us down the steep fall to the gulley boardwalk;
A slither of hot sun turns everything tangy green, there’s a welcome chill off the bright turpentine water.
Swing back up the other side, along a ridge of ancient forest
Tangled trunks meet overhead and block the sky
Steamy and still: we’re suddenly intruding here
Sweat and wax starts to chafe my skin.
Fresher now we’re at the last dune, flat Wooden slats hold the sand
We pick our way down; there’s the view through the trees,
sand, water, waves; I’m excited, I’m not watching the ground;
my foot hits every fourth rung.
Karen Rogers Noosa 2022
Written at home in Sunshine Beach,
The beach access track starts near our house and takes the Noosa National Park tracks over to Alexander Bay a popular surfer’s haunt.
And if my thoughts are so sublime
I will contend that this is the end
and I will not feel sorrow
if there is no tomorrow
Shirley Petersen March 2014
FATHER AND DAUGHTER
Father and daughter
Day out at Moma
hand in hand I’ll show you
Gifts from mere mortals
Up there on the walls
Pricey art in ancient halls
So hand in hand I’ll show you
Gifts from mere mortals
But gifts ain’t worth no thing
Gotta learn and toil: do-ing
No, don’t say: “I’m not creative”
Gotta “work with what God gave yer”
Just look at all these pieces
And I’ll show ya how Dudes made ‘em
Don’t tell me you’re not creative
Just get that right brain active.
So hand in hand I’ll show you
Priceless gifts from mere mortals
Without books and practice: do-ing
God’s gifts ain’t worth no thing
Just a life full of regret
don’t you listen to that left
brain cause it’s only gonna whisper
….GIRL: “You ain’t creative”
So hand in hand I’ll show ya
My girl’s gifts be in there waiting
…Future’s bright,
…world your oyster
…Father and Daughter
….Day out at Moma
Words Karen Rogers June 2022
Written in the Whitsundays on board Island Girl
MOMA – Museum of Modern Art, New York, Father & Daughter Day
AND WE SAILED
And we had a very very very good sail
But first we waited
beyond the bar all surf and chop,
A dozen boats waited
And there was circling and the chewing of knuckles
until the water rose and all was calm, we crossed.
And we sailed
And we had a very very very fine sail
Behind the waves and safe
in a magic mile of channel and deep;
we breathed again and smiled:
we’d done our sums, our timings, our way points.
And we made a regal flotilla
With the wind fair behind us.
So we sailed
And we had a very very very good sail
Past the 4WDs queued up on the dunes,
We turned away to starboard, towards Garry’s.
The ferry now at KGari
Cars were tiny boxes and whizzed along the sand.
And they drove
And they had a very very very good drive
We let them go, the waves our rythym now
our chart weaved the straights and sandy banks
The strands beneath churned the water coffee brown
And we sailed
And we sailed
And we sailed in slow motion
and the tides were the key
and the knowledge of the shallows
And the marker bouys were soldiers in their stillness;
our only companions
and the tea trees stood aloof to our concerns.
An eagle on a post stared, waiting for its moment.
Karen Rogers June 2024
Written on board Island Girl,
The Sandy Straights are behind K’Gari, the world’s largest sand Island
The Wide Bay Bar is a notoriously difficult bar to cross on the South Eastern Australian seaboard.