sallymurphy.com.au

Sally Murphy, Australian author

Poetry Friday: Sealing a Friendship

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It’s Poetry Friday and this week I have been lucky enough that, in a week of lockdown, I  have been able to keep up my beach walks in the one hour of exercise allowed.  My beach is always beautiful, and always different – no two visits are the same.

This week, there were some special surprises. On Tuesday I had an amazing dolphin encounter (you can see some footage in my post below). And then, because I thought that couldn’t be topped, Wednesday brought an even bigger surprise – a seal! 

Yes, there s/he was, just a couple of metres offshore, splashing and fishing and generally being amazing. Again, you can see some footage in the post below.

So, when I sat down to try to draft a new poem for Poetry Friday, it isn’t surprising that at least one of these creatures had to feature – and, this time, it was the seal.

 

Sealing a   Friendship    

I walked

you swam.

You waved

I waved back

the waves waved too.

I splashed for a closer look

you splashed

with joy.

You caught a fish

I caught your moves

on camera.

I strode

back along the beach

lighter for our meeting.

You swam away

heavy with fish.

I like to think

the  smile beneath my mask

mirrored your smile

beneath the water.

(Poem copyright Sally Murphy, 2021)

 

Today’s Poetry Friday roundup will be hosted by Jone. Swim over there to see what goodies my poetic friends have shared today. I’ll pop in there too – after I’ve had my Friday walk where I know there’ll be more wonders. 

Lockdown Seal

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Yesterday I posted about an amazing dolphin encounter.  Today the water was a little choppier, and I knew it was unlikely I would see such action again, as the dolphins are harder to spot on choppy days.  And I was right, I did not see a single dolphin this morning. But what I did see took my breath away. I had heard of  a lone seal visiting my beach, or a little south of it, but had never been lucky enough to spot it.

 

Today was my lucky day! Just before my turnaround point, the seal was there, fishing, very very close to shore.  You can see it throwing its fish around. And, about 3 minutes 40 in, you can see its reaction when a dog barks.

What a way to start day 3 of lockdown. Yet again I’m counting my blessings that my one hour of exercise is at my local beach.