wax and wane
deep in the trench
ancient reefs lie submerged —
their skeletons remember
when the cryosphere
stretched taut over continents
these drowned cities gleam
grey like marcasite — the dead jewels
of coral and glaciation bound together
*
the sea ascends and bulges cliff
coral fruits in lobes, bursts
the water, alive with astronomy
spawn drifts to its pale lure
and with starry gametes
entwines the moon
a shrimp revolves her eyes
and perceives a secret light
spiralling in the universe
then the polyps branch
in tree-structures and jellyfish
bloom from birthing tips
*
new shorelines break with acid
weakened shells, weakened bones
blind and splitting fingers
vanish — sparse mouths
flower the shadowed boulders
the round eyes of bat-fish hover
dive deep for the pink, while
fields of staghorn wave alabaster
animals are ground to sand
float the turquoise gloom
and scatter light with their geology
’wax and wane’ — mixed media: aerial and underwater photography, charcoal on paper
Sea-country
mangroves knuckle
leaching yellow
salts into leaf
sacrificed, a slit
meanders
we float to delta
silted and swollen
my daughter draws
curls of sand
river bays open
to drawl of mud dunes
meadows of sea-grass
sway in dugong graze
sediment spills
plumb-lines
there coral clings
limey night tentacles
farm a sea of stone
synapses with feathery trails
hear our breath
against scatter
of puckered hands
flippers pumping
algae splits light
sugar seeps from orbs
’Sea-country’ — mixed media: underwater photography, charcoal and pastel on paper
Zooxanthellae
diadems spill with echoes
scars murmur to folded garden
algae is loosed
starblossoms brittle-white
frilled with marrow
my lungs lilt and blow
antlers attune
cascade the skin reef
and roll from me, bodies piled to the cay
secrete tendrils, rain a deep rim
where I fall blackmarked
pallid — and emptied
‘Zooxanthellae’ — mixed media: underwater photography, pastel and charcoal on paper
Sophie Finlay is a visual artist and poet from Melbourne. Her poetry is published in multiple journals including Meanjin, Australian Poetry, Cordite Poetry Review, Plumwood Mountain Journal and Shaping the Fractured Self (UWAP). She has been a finalist in several art prizes including the prestigious John Leslie Art Prize.