Our Cafe Poet Diana Bell Brooks has just returned for a short break in NZ and has penned this poem to share with you. You can hear more of her poetry at the Cafe Poet Poetry Reading on Friday 3 December at 5.30pm for a 6pm start at Cafe Latte, 173 Summer Street, Orange. Please RSVP to the Cafe or Orange City Library on 6393 8132. Cost is $5 payable on the night and includes a glass of champagne and nibbles. And here is the poem to enjoy:
Mission Bay, Auckland
Triangles of sail slice
pale zircon waves,
a sand carpet unravels
rectangles of light
to the toes of Mt Rangitoto,
a lizard sleeping in the afternoon.
Waves curl and slip, clouds edge
this small clear world
constructed out of memories
where I once flew with my brother
on his bicycle down to the sea
proudly sheltered by his arms
to paddle in the nursling waves.
The sea covers his ashes now
and speaks of him.
My granddaughter is four,
and I am half a century more
another sea and another country away
We build a sandcastle
in Mission Bay and adorn it
with pippies, limpets and tower shells
A rampart with windows
overlooking a moat
watches the brimming tide.
I watch the sea slip back and know
only this sea
speaks the truth to me.
Diana Bell Brooks
Caf