Australia in Poems

A Walk on the Beach I sang to the ocean today. I sang memories, Let them go, Put light on the old, Washed away And re emerged the new. I let her hold them, Put my feet where her heart should be, But I found it everywhere, All along the shore, The ocean reached me–

No matter how far away I was. I told her I am the bridge between the land of the sea. “You are also the sea,” she said, “Just as much as you are the land. We are not so much different. We are all constantly changing, But peace is always here if you want it. I tried to walk away, Aware of the time, Aware of the tides, The ones that hold my life.

But the ocean held onto me– Splashed my face And told me, “Come in now You are ready.” Skinny Dipping At night everything is silent As we stand small– Bare sticks in the breeze, Deep blue waves– A boy hidden beneath. The sky is dotted with starlight. We are somewhere stuck between it all, Not sure if we should hide Or open our arms wide– Bare ourselves into the blackness. I think of how the waves are just a never ending cycle Of breaking And returning How everything rough Dissipates How everything eventually reaches the shore. How I am knee deep in the rough Too often Bare Too often Alone And that is nothing unusual At all. So I release my fists From my chest, Open my arms And let the sky see me

Just as I see it– Just as I am: No more, No less.

Ode to the Donkey Ode to the donkey, The guard of the sheep, Friend of the horse but Never ridden, No longer burdened by travel But not free. Ode to the donkey, The one patched with white and black The one who nuzzles my hand As I reach out.

Ode to the donkey, The one that stills me as I brush my fingers Through his mane Till for a moment it is just us, Two animals, Stuck in the breeze, Speaking without words.

The Fence Between Us Nights like these, Sunflower moon And lilac horizon. You wander out For orange skies And empty roads Of black pavement And glittering city lights That you wish your lens Could grasp Before the night Inhales, Breaths in all of this Until tomorrow. I come out for the cow, The one who is leaning over The stranger’s fence. The one I ran away from as she approached As I was told to do because “We are not made to be friends.” But now all I want is to gain back her trust So I reach out my hand out And wait. It takes 15 minutes For her to smell me And 15 more Till I feel the fur on the top of her head. I wonder if she smells the chemicals, The ones that linger on my fingers Can she smell the fear– The swings And the jungle gyms, The wind, And the dirt, And the rain; All the nights I cry when I think of you? Can she taste the tear stains that I left on my pillow? Or maybe I am nothing but a girl Leaning on a fence Wanting so desperately to love What has long been locked up, Wanting to understand the pain Before it’s all over. Wondering if it has to end here. Barbed Wire

Two white horses In purple plaid raincoats Bend their heads over barbed wire fence To eat the tall grass On the other side. Maybe we are not so different, after all, some nights Freedom tastes No different Than my own capacity.

Tasmania Tea by the river, Cotton candy skies. You make rock formations On ripped jeans. Two boys play flutes. I make a wish on a lighter It is 11:11 And this is what I wish for. Maydena Rain- Inescapable power Sun- Red cheeks, I mistake my blush For sun kissed. The old trampoline Damp with rain drops Brings me closer to the sky.

Melbourne I got home at 2 am By home I mean the top bunk Of an 8 person hostile Where the next day we would Find bugs crawling Beneath the floorboards And the lady at the front desk Would tell us to wait Till tomorrow As if we had time As if every problem- The spread of infection- The beginning of a panic attack Could freeze Till the woman was done with her checklist As if the term emergency means Eventually you will be seen Long after it is over Means call 911 If you can afford it Means no But only if you can prove it in court Means like always It was in our hands To protect ourselves Not the ones that created the pain Not the ones that built this That took our money That told us we’d be safe There comes a sense of crumbling Into oneself– Barc wears away, A snake sheds its skin; I forgive you Even though you stole my shell, Took refuge in my bones And left me waiting.

Sydney Girl meets city; Trees do not fit comfortably in brick. Things end here, Buildings over dead grass, Cement made of broken bottles. Girl meets city Like a lonely tree on the sidewalk, Grows a forest with her curls. Thinks of how roots reach and bend How people always have a destination. Even here birds find homes in tree branches And abandoned apartments. They say we can’t force it— Home that is— Love that is He says this is home She, blowing in the wind like a kite Ready to jump into the current- She tells him to look up. .

Calm in the Storm I paint 5 sunsets that are all the same Without meaning to. 5 people gather on grass– Look at lightning like a spectacle. She says she’s afraid of rain at night Because she almost drowned before In a tent. I wonder if drowning is like a panic attack That never ends But everything ends I suppose You ask me why I get up so early. I tell you breakfast Is better than suffocation, That anxiety is something you walk through like mud, For too long I have been covered in dirt.

Lindsey I am the bird That brings fire You are the first morning light on the pine, The way trees turn orange at sunrise And purple at sunset. Tears cannot put out the flame, The sun does not singe the trees Just brings color to my eyes. You hug me And flowers grow in open wounds. You hug me and I see Spring. Evolution I let the ant crawl on my arm- Understand that it belongs, Intertwined like all of us. There is a forest beneath your toes. The first molecule that ever lived on this planet Is inside of you. Everything has a nucleus, Thousands inside molecules. The most Important memories are stored here. They do not move, Do not run; They only sit Until they are found– Copied and taken away. Sloths were not born slow. They evolved to be slow– Live on one tree. Everyday they climb down And plant a seed– Give back to what gives them life We are not separate from this. Like any other animal, We die with our home Why do you so many people forget what home is?

Hare Krishna Village In 2nd grade they told me Trees can’t talk. Now here I am Standing next to a tree And you tell me to listen; I seem to have forgotten how to speak Without words. It takes an hour to calm my mind. White, Rough bark Sprinkles of green– She waits– Lets ants crawl on her back A bird embed a home into her face, A cocoon on her branches Waiting— “Don’t be afraid to let things grow”, She says, “Just wait.”

Brisbane I haven’t written In awhile, Sometimes I just bruise, Refuse to bleed, To let myself feel. Some clouds don’t cry Just downpour In and out On my way home. Some nights feel like colored lights Peering behind barbed wire fences. I take out my camera, Incoming water droplets on the horizon, Trains moving forward, Roads scratched and worn, Empty hands Full hearts. My sadness is a blur Captured within the lens Hands reaching in darkness Amidst the migration Of human kind The breath of time Heavy and fleeting I hear the night whisper “Stay”

Crescent moon I’ve worn these same clothes all semester. The yellow colored pencil is almost out of the ability to scratch at blankness Like sometimes my phone dies at 10 percent Or how my flashlight somehow stays on at zero percent And when it dies I finally see the stars The ones that have existed every night. Too often we fail to look up, Realize we are never alone Nor is the world ever silent, But it only speaks when we are silent. Sometimes— Okay all the time— Like every time I breath And it feels like a bruise Hitting concrete– So every time I breath I want to love someone So much- the starlight in my veins Burst– Like a shooting star You’ve never seen one But I hope you’re strong enough to wait- Open your arms- Hold my heartstrings Till I can sing again Off-tune and scratched. I want you to see me like a crescent moon Once eclipsed by something I could not comprehend, How one speck of light Peeking through Window shades Tells me there is a new day outside if I want. The moon tells me the phases will always change But the core never does I try to remember that, Know that I am loved As much I as I love Even if I can’t even begin to love myself. I will not tell you this, The sky never reveals her secrets Unless there is silence So I will let you sleep Stay in your arms Write a poem in my chest– Save it for later. I told you I was a poet. Maybe someday you will understand.