Snorkelling

They totter up the jetty
holding each other’s elbows and
smiling to ward off gravity,
his torso a swollen, pale seal
needing moisture,
her legs, rusted pins in elephant skin.

At the jetty’s edge
they find their balance,
manage to sit, eyes spangled
with waves,

they pull on snorkels and slip
under ‒
90 year olds
in the dayroom of the sea.

Glory Days

We’ll talk about this forever,
here, now
when we’re flint sticks in wheelchairs,

here, now

our children dancing til the sun
is dizzy
til we’re four shooting stars
in a galaxy of swayed grass
pupils blurred in the spun brightness
glory days, fast as fireworks
each gone

now

scares me.

Linda Kohler’s poetry has been published in Tamba, Poetrix, the Wakefield Press anthology ‘Tadpoles in the Torrens’ and various other publications. She has been a highly commended applicant for the Australian Society of Authors Poetry Mentorship Program, a waitress, a television scriptwriter, a proofreader and teacher. She takes her inspiration from the natural world and the beauty of the human spirit. Her past appearances in Poet’s Corner have been with her moving poem “Pirates”, written in memory of her younger brother who died just hours after birth, and two poems about visual artworks inspired by nature.

Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to [email protected]. Submissions should be in the body of the email, not as attachments. A poetry book will be awarded to each accepted contributor.