By Joseph Clayton
Among the breeze,
Twisting its way between
A tangle of pebbles, windswept
A snatch of laughter
Half-chuckle, half-wheeze,
Among that dry, ceaseless wind,
Waves hastened and broken
Reflect the evening sun,
A glimpse of merriment,
The glint in your eye.
I fancy, for a moment,
You appear before me,
Playing cards in hand
And at once I am
Twelve again, and it is raining,
Tohunga Crescent slick beneath the deluge.
‘Last card!’,
and you smile,
Bella triumphant as ever —
The card shark with her
Tiny crown of curls,
We will head
Down the bay in just a moment
Once I retrieve my sandals
From under the deck,
And you have finished
Your chapter.
And then you are gone,
And as I thread my way
Back through the rocks,
Buffeted by that
Dry, ceaseless wind,
I can see Karl in his outhouse
My sandals, still under the deck,
Unretrieved.
You were a certainty,
Timeless,
And now, as the wind tears around me
I am unable to cry.