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             MARK O'FLYNN

       ON DARLING POINT

                  See this feud between wren and crow;

                  buzz and strafing,

                  then the crow's tactical retreat

                  to the weird bones of a frangipani.

                  Blind leaves fingering

                  air; planted, so the Chinese say,

                  to discourage ghosts.

                  The dull bells of rocking boats.

                  Coruscating diamonds on the water.

                  Spilled contraband of rain

                  on freshly shorn lawn.

                  The mowing I have done myself. Tedious

                   tumult of nature.

                   Whose job to contain it?

                   Such pleasant dappled boredom.

                   On the flagstones of the jetty

                   a soup of seawater and blood.

                   A fisherman dozes under the thorns

                   of a coral tree, radio mumbling.

                   Contents of his bucket still.