Poetry

At Taronga Zoo; Wellington

Cath Vidler

 

At Taronga Zoo

1. Echidna quills filter the wind.
2. A free-ranging emu is overly familiar.
3. A tortoise moves like a secret.
4. The viscous seal pool trembles with anticipation.
5. A cable-car sags like a burdened planet.
6. A submerged crocodile turns, its tail a slow goodbye.
7. The carp pond is brimming with silver and gold.
8. A barn-owl flashes its white heart at the crowd.
9. Koalas warm the eucalypts’ joints.
10. A peacock reserves the right to party.
11. Zebras calmly stand their ground.
12. Hunched chimps concentrate the heat.
13. Wallabies loll like an indulgent audience.
14. Harbour views continue to unwrap their surprises.

 

Wellington

Gifted clouds,
a moonscape bay,

gulls levering
the baffled sky.

I lived here once,
under a text of stars,

wind tearing up
all my translations.