Treasure
As is his right,
King Tide gorges regally on sand dunes, stolen
in a raid, long ago by a tough rabble of thieves
spinifex, pigface, sheoak
to name just a few of the shameless hoarders
sand is land, precious as the water we drink
sand reclaimed as land for thousands of years past
sand lost to sea in the now and the future
King Tide retreats, dark glistening robes flowing closer to his heart,
smug satisfaction of the winner with a belly full
of treasure.
Gabe Feathers McGee 
Note: Gabrielle Bryden is a blog addict and can’t stay away for too long.
Note:
i am happy
you know that rooster he aint gonna die….. 🙂
you crack me up opoetoo :)and are contributing to my musical education 😉
🙂
Nother Note: spinifex, pigface, sheoak are dune vegetation in many parts of coastal Australia (grass, groundcover, tree).
it calls me out in relation to Naruda book i just get yesterday and have all his Odes in it…
thanks Dhyan – I might have to have a look at that 🙂
Despite the impressive showing of Narelle McCarthy (Greens) on Saturday, scoring 18% of the primary vote, the message that most of SE Queensland is on a plain that would be esten away by tides if sea levels rose, say a metre, seems to go unheeded.
Your poem said to me it has begun. King Tide will conbtinue to gorge and will not be satisfied with one bellyfull!
Welcome back, you were missed. LOL.
Thanks Stafford – lucky you’re on a boat! I’ve been on the net looking at the models for ocean rises of 1 metre, 2 metres etc., for the whole world – scary stuff – my town would be gone with a 1 metre rise (probably 1/2 metre), but even places like Brisbane and most of the coastal towns would be stuffed.
cool poem.
I googled spinifex before I looked at the comments but
I figured all those were plants.
How is the no-dairy girl doing?
Thanks opoetoo. No-dairy girl appears to have given in on the no dairy front and is being unusually compliant (probably knows it’s helping her) 🙂
That is awesome, from what you said I thought it might get ugly.
Glad it is working out.
Fingers crossed – today she was counting the number of days on the diet (as if she is sure it will end at the end of the 6 weeks – but we’ll deal with that when we know for sure that dairy is the real culprit).
wonderful poem gabrielle, i can relate, our coastlines erode, cottages that were once a safe distance from the shore topple over and crumble, here we have beachgrass, wild sweetpea, rosa rugosa and another funny guy named dusty miller to name a few of the flora who dig in and try to hold on
Thanks tipota. What great names you have for dune vegetation – I think rosa rugosa and dusty miller would make good names for thieves as well 😉
ha ha missed that before, bonnie and clyde ha ha
Excellent poem…the photograph and the poem worked very well together….was fun to read aloud.
Thanks slpmartin – it does need to be read aloud this one – like a story (most of my poems are stories in one form or another). I love the way you write your poems inspired by the photos – it’s such a good idea to help with ideas and to get out of a rut by thinking laterally.
Absolutely awesome. I have often imagined the King Tide that way. Loved the flow of it.
Thanks Selma 🙂
I love that name king Tide…he is an architect in fact, moving things around, sculpting coast, creating new islands, erasing others.
Thanks Ben. What you say is lovely and so true and my poem is a bit misleading in that the sand taken from one end of the beach often ends up not far away – down the other end of town, the sand has been getting moved there and the beach is getting higher and higher. If there are floods the sand from the estuary from the other end of town will flow out to sea and end up on the beaches (hopefully ours soon).
I love the way you structured this poem Gabrielle, nice and precise and uniform. It appeals to the nit picking OCD child in me. 🙂
That makes me happy Val 🙂 My friend has a cat with OCD
the sand thief, what an intriguing idea, like a time thief, too, stealing little moments and hoarding into eons
Thanks ALetha 🙂
dear gabrielle,
i like the poem structure, and it struck an idea in my mind. there is a rectangular void space right in the middle of the poem appearing like a keyhole for the treasure chest. what a clever way of an idea. i believe, that treasures were not defying the laws of nature. treasures will always be hunted for, and when it is hoarded, remains to be hidden, buried all along in its secrecy. its a continuous cycle of opening and hiding such like putting a key to reveal the contents of the treasure chest.
wonderful write!
Thanks hames1977 – I love what you say about the continuous process of hiding and opening etc., Wouldn’t it have been great if I could have got the wordprocessor to do the real shape of a keyhole – haha.