River Dancing

On a summer night you can hear the snap
of a jack
ripples in the silver twilight
pursed lips towards the moon of mayflies dawning

in the still heat of evening making love
on the fatal attraction of
discarded waders
in a life so short and a dusk so long

and as blackness envelops
the memories cling like arms
passion sated
the whip of line laid low on water

stalking, still
the stream of consciousness unabated

A Whale Of A Tale

It's strange but true
that whale poo
according to the pundits
can clear the world of CO2
so lets have it
in abundance


Roger Smith  June 2010

Source: Sperm whale faeces 'helps oceans absorb CO2'

The White Bridge

We never crossed the white bridge in Taipei

your  yin 

my  yang

we scurried past

ships across a bay

of mild unease and discontent

a bridge too far perhaps?

every advance followed by a retreat

maintaining the balance

avoiding  the meeting of love and laughter


Roger Smith   September 2009

The Xmas Shell

Above the bureau radiant
your orange pink lips
opening to translucent orange
and tales of Kenyan times

when the rule of the Raj
a white flex to the motherland
destroyed your smooth corrugations

In Papua we buried the likes of you
letting the ants devour your innards
disinterring your carcass
to let it shine once more
varnished by the caress of the sea


Roger Smith   August 2009