Buoyant and beautiful, fragile and fraught,

A life floats on by, it’s yours to be caught.

Focus we can on disasters in store

And stay tied up tight still secure on the shore.

Or venture instead on the unyielding sea

And batten the hatches, but just as needs be

Lest on bright sunny days when there’s nary a swell,

We, in our imaginings, live still in hell.

Storms we’ll encounter, we know that for sure,

But wipe off the salt and then come back for more.

The storms are essential: they help us to see

The days in between for the joy they can be.

Stephen Tomkins
24 August 2016
Melbourne