This week I was lucky enough to have a little holiday from work – and from the world, it seemed. I headed to Rottnest Island (which in the local Noongyar language is called Wadjemup), and spent two days snorkelling, riding a bike and relaxing. I especially wanted to snorkel at a place called Parker Point, on the other side of the island, and hired a bike specially. Last year I cheated and caught the tourist bus.
I got up super early and was the first one in the water. It was so worth it! I’ve tried to write about it, although the poem is still a draft. And, if you have time, I have cobbled together a video from my gopro footage. If I had more time I would have edited it better, but hopefully you’ll get a sense of the magic.
Wadjemup, Tuesday Morning
Six a.m
and holidaymakers
sleep still
in cottages
languidly enjoying
their break from reality.
But I
am far from my cottage
urging my bike
up hills much steeper than they appeared
from the windows of
the air conditioned bus.
At Parker Point
I stop
feeling sheepish
chaining the bike
when there’s no one else in sight
descend the stairs
and prepare
snorkels
flippers
rashie.
At the edge of the water
I pause
wondering at my sanity
to be here alone
so early.
Too late now
I commit
lunging forward inelegantly
over seagrass
darkly stirring
just inches from my face.
Within metres
I spot my first fish
and I feel myself
surrender
to the lure of the water
and its myriad treasures.
Later
as I float
in a school of silver
that seems to never end
I wonder, briefly,
if those cottage beds
are working the same magic
on those who’ve stayed abed.
(Poem Copyright Sally Murphy,2021)
Ruth is hosting the Poetry Friday Roundup. If you drop by there, you might be brave enough to add a fact for the group poem.
I love your ‘wondering’, Sally. And the video gave me a marvelous taste of being there. It seemed like as you went on, you saw more! I didn’t get my ocean visit this year & am sad about that. I’ve only snorkeled in a special place once, with students, off the coast of Catalina Island. It was marvelous.
Yes, Linda – the more I swam, the more I saw! Sorry you missed your beach trip. I feel both fortunate and a little guilty that I can do things so many others can’t at the moment. I only hope that sharing them helps a bit.
I always look forward to seeing what you are up to in Australia where it is summer. What colors and sounds, too, in the video. I looks like a magical place.
Oh it is indeed magical, Janice. I feel so privileged to live where I do.
SO cool! I was on the back of your bike and swimming beside you through the words in your poem, Sally. Thank you! 🙂
Thank YOU Bridget. I love taking people along for the ride 🙂
I’ll forgive you for diving alone (you know better!), because…seven minutes of ocean beauty while we wait, buried in snow, for spring = priceless!
Great poem, fabulous footage! THANKS!
Thanks for forgiving me, Mary Lee. If it helps, I was in very close, and almost entirely on the surface rather than diving down. And there were four boats anchored nearby.
Magical indeed! Thanks for sharing your early morning sea adventures. I’d have to go for the early morning exploration of the sea rather than the cottage beds.
Thanks Kay. Yes, sometimes when you are still in bed getting out seems hard – but once you are out and magic is happening….
It seems like a lifetime ago that I visited Rottnest/Wadjemup -it was actually, you took me back with your poem Sally. The bike riding in particular…
Your poem flowed so easily, aligning to its watery themes. I like the way you ‘surrendered to the lure of the water and its myriad secrets.’ Thank you for allowing me to splash about.
Hi swimmer/snorkeler Sally! You & I are truly thinking of the silky sea together this week in #PoetryFriday. I listened & lollygagged with your Sally as Jacques Cousteau/Eugenie Clark in a Home Movie from the Coral Shallows. The sea creatures clicks & clacks, the [tiny] fins & flashes, the fish stripes, pink/red/green/blue colors of the floor dwelling seal life – all mesmerize me. Brava! And, Yay! for us, the early risers who turn Nature into Poems.
Jan/Bookseedstudio
Jan I love the synchronicity that often happens in Poetry Friday posts with two or more of us exploring similar themes. Thanks for visiting and congratulations on your new publication.
Sally, thanks for sharing your early morning snorkel with us! My young adult son and I love sunrises, and when we are on the Atlantic coast always wake early to catch them while the rest of the family sleeps… it feels like being in on a secret, doesn’t it? I’ve never been sorry I got up early. xo
What a delightful trip for me! Thank you for sharing this snorkel time. I so enjoy the feeling of “what am I doing?” in your poem and then the feeling of ahhhhhh, this is so right. I love, love, love my time alone while the rest of the world is all tucked in but not needing me. It’s like a pass to go….write (usually). If this is a draft, I hope to see the final someday. Hooray for video. That was fun to watch!
Thank you Linda. I love doing these things alone, with the privilege of being able to share them afterwards.
It is like a secret, Irene. A delicious one.