Poetry | Kerry Anne Sullivan

Transgressions

A line-

Invisible to all but her, was drawn.

Unwittingly, he crossed it,

And never knew the reason

For her discontent.

The earth did not move,

The world stayed unchanged.

As he crossed the line

He could not see

And wondered why the schism formed.

Kerry Anne Sullivan

By the Lake

The sun is sinking in the west,

as it silhouettes the trees,

That grow along the lakeside,

and nod gently in the breeze.

As I sit beside the water

in the coolness of the eve,

I watch the birdlife gather,

as at dusk, they start to feed.

The pelicans fly over

in search of flashing fish,

And graceful swans turn turtle

for some illusive tasty dish.

To the sound of magpies chortling the light begins to fade,

Then down beside the bank

I spy a water rat that wades,

To get his evening meal,

he swims across the mirrored lake,

And breaks the polished surface with his quickly widening wake.

It’s a peaceful scene on the lake

as darkness comes to stay,

As streetlights then begin to blink and so ends another day.

Kerry Anne Sullivan

The One Eared Elephant

The night was cold and dark and bleak,

As I waited for the bus to come up the street.

At last, the lights came into sight,

And the children all tumbled out, tired

and quiet.

I looked around for my boy to find Him quietly and pale-faced, coming along behind.

Under one arm his bag was tucked,

In the other a container in which he had ‘chucked’.

I gathered home up and cheerily said –

“Have you had a nice day? Let’s get home to bed.”

He mumbled something I could not hear,

Then produced a small elephant, with only one ear.

Immediately I said, “you naughty boy,

I told you, no spending your money on toys.”

“But Mum,” he said, with an ashen face,

“This is for you, for your special place,

You’re the best Mum I’ve ever had,

So please don’t be cross or mad or sad.”

My anger disappeared right out of sight,

As he touched my heart, on that cold dark night.

Kerry Anne Sullivan