sallymurphy.com.au

Sally Murphy, Australian author

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.

 

Lockdown Dolphins

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Greetings from lockdown.  In Western Australia we are on day 2 of a five day snap  Covid 19 lockdown.

I am lucky enough to  have the best beach in the world (imho) at the end of my street and, with one hour of exercise outside the home allowed each day, you might guess where I would exercise. And, this morning, I was extra lucky to have an amazing dolphin encounter while I walked.  A pod of dolphins just a few metres off shore, flipping and splashing and even some leaps. There was at least one baby dolphin  (calf) in the group, and I suspect some teaching was happening. Amazing!

Back home, I shared some snippets on my personal Facebook and Instagram accounts, but later, I decided to splice them together into one video. Here then, if you need some beach peace – or some dolphin excitement – is what I saw:

I’m still smiling when  I think of my morning.  Wherever you are in the world, and especially if you, too, are in lockdown, I hope this dolphin magic makes you smile, too.

Poetry Friday: Childhood Favourites

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It’s Poetry Friday and, in the midst of writing and talking and thinking about my new book baby, I’ve also been thinking about the poems that lead me to love poetry.  I spent a lovely afternoon rediscovering my favourite childhood collection, and decided to share a few, and why they appealed to me.

You can find each of these poems, which are in the public domain, online:

The Purple Cow, by Gellet Burgess

Eletelephony (which I am sure I mispronounce in the video) by  Laura Elizabeth Richards  and

Forgiven, by A. A. Milne

There are so many more wonderful poems in this treasured collection that I would have loved to share, and perhaps will in future. There is something warm and comforting about poems from childhood.  It isn’t just the words or the rhythms, it’s the physical sensation of the memories they invoke.

What poems do you remember loving as a child that have stayed with you?

 

And, speaking of warm and comforting, there are choc chip cookies on offer at Jama’s blog, where she’s hosting the the Poetry Friday roundup, with find links to loads more poetry goodies.

 

Poetry Friday: Footpaths

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Since arriving in Hanoi I have spent a lot of time walking. Sure, there are lots of other ways to get around, but where possible (in the heat and depending on distance)  I like to walk, because then I get to see and hear and experience so much more.  But walking around a busy bustling city is not always easy. Many streets have no footpaths and, when they do, often the footpaths are used for anything but walking.  So often the walking has to be on the road, which can be perilous. But hey, I like an adventure!

 

Here is a glimpse at some of the things happening on Hanoi’s footpaths:

 

 

And, of course, my thoughts on all these sights  spurned a poem so that I had to hurry home from one of my walks to draft a poem about Hanoian footpaths.

Footpaths

Footpaths are for

cars and motorbikes

and more motorbikes

and even more motorbikes;

bicycles;

selling stuff

spread out on cloths on the ground

or piled high on stalls;

little stools;

food stalls

bia stalls

tea stalls;

dogs

and cats

and chickens;

rubbish;

sitting on

sleeping on

exercising on;

trees;

signs;

more motorbikes;

and

very

very

occasionally

walking on.

 

(Poem copyright Sally Murphy, 2018)

In spite of the cluttered paths, I’m certainly clocking up some steps on my step counter. In fact, I’m off now for another walk! But later I’ll be stepping out around the blogosphere reading the other Poetry Friday posts. You too can see this week’s roundup at The Poem Farm.

 

 

PS. This post, and my visit to Hanoi, are made possible by the amazing Asialink Arts Program, and with the funding support of the the Western Australian Government through the  Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.

Poetry Friday: Trash and Treasure

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It’s been ages since I joined in on the fun  of Poetry Friday, mostly because I spent a good chunk of this year finishing off and submitting my doctoral thesis exploring – you guessed it – children’s poetry. Now that my thesis, Belonging: A Place in and For Children’s Poetry has been examined and accepted and I am officially a doctor, I’ve been thinking for a few weeks that I must get around to jumping back in some Friday.

 

And then a weird piece of synchronicity happened this morning. I was walking on the beach, as I do most days, and admiring the various treasures on the sand. Some days there is little but sand on the shore and I instead admire the clouds, or the sparkling water, or the dolphins, or my thoughts, but some days, like today, the sea has abandoned something like this :

or this:

or even this:

for me to stop and admire (and photograph of course).

 

And the words of a poem of mine, Trash and Treasure started running through my head, and I knew that I should share the poem today for Poetry Friday, even though I knew I’d shared it before. So I came home, and here I am about to write this post, when I realised that not only have I shared the poem before, but I shared it this week a year ago!  SO whether it is that this is the week of the year that the sea likes to prompt poetry, or whether it is sheer coincidence, I know I am meant to re-share Trash and Treasure with you here today. Enjoy!

And, for those who would prefer a text version, here it is:

 

Trash and Treasure

Each night

the sea deposits her rubbish

along the shore:

shells, sponge

even a starfish she no longer needs.

In the morning

her trash becomes my treasure.

 

(Copyright Sally Murphy)

It’s so lovely to back participating in Poetry Friday again. You can find the round up at A Day in the Life, where you will find links to other blogs having fun with Poetry Friday.

 

Poetry Friday: Good Morning, Ray

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Last Friday, I posted about walking the dolphins. This week, I had planned to post  on a completely different topic. But, this morning as i walked along the beach, I had an encounter with a different marine animal – a stingray, that swam into the shallows very close to me feet and which I then followed along for a while, chatting away to it about the beautiful day.  So, of course, by the time I’d finished my walk, there was a poem in my head.

 

And, if you’d like to see more of Mr Ray, here’s a little video I took.

https://www.facebook.com/125397660050/videos/10158341635330051/

 

Today’s Poetry Friday round up is at My Juicy little Universe. Expect lots of Billy Collins goodness when you visit there.

 

 

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