Durring Embrace

Breathing in the sea’s silver sheen, 
Chincogan shivers off the morning dew 

Downriver, Durrumbul tumbles into tides –  
Thin muscles thicken again

The greedy sea exposes the river’s gills; rusted ribs of sand 
Mangrove roots protrude through spongey mud, caressing the air

Mullet and bream rest among gentle bends
Above, paperbark blossoms in bunches of sunshine 

We skirt along a sunset soaked beach;
Palettes of lilly pilly, banksia, wattle fleck the shore     
Beyond, a concrete groyne juts towards a salty horizon

The river mouth narrows, forms a foamy funnel
Sifting, distilling; pine, cedar, she oak, tea tree 
Straining time’s tannin into an ocean-sized cup

Waves return distant stories at our dusky feet,
The bay now an hourglass tipped, day slipping out and away
Reverie punctuated by the insistent cry of osprey 

Chincogan sighs, settles, exhales the evening air, 
Durring’s wide arms embrace mother mountain, 
Rock, water, animal, tree, twining into infinity