The Man From Horseshoe Bay Poem by Jonathan Drane

We came upon this aged man
While walking 'long the shore
And sunset drew us to his side
And kookaburra’s call

As we neared his eyes lit up
He smiled over to see
Our group of children lit his face
His eyes looked wild and free

He sat there on a sandy bank
And pointed out for me
The sky was flying downward west
The sun set on the sea

He sat upon an old deck chair
His hair was silver white
His hands were driftwood twig in shape
His face turned to the light

His body wrapped in silken cloth
Was older than the trees
And moved so slowly in the light
And yet was strong and free

His wrap was colour of the coral
And the aqua sea
It lit his face and held our gaze
And made us see and hear

He came from time of starlit sky
And moonshine on the wave
He sat amongst his seagull kids
And called to them to play

Within his reach two burras stared
Upon his desert face
And listened to his chatter call
And dreamed about the chase

The water rippled with his sound
And he could see the tails
That swam beneath the surface dream
And played amongst the sails

When we asked him of his place
Bob spoke of his name
He came to island years ago
But remembered just the same

We sat like children round his camp
And gazed into the light
As water stilled and sunset thrilled
And falcons took to flight

He said the island neath our feet
Was ancient lava flow
And million years would come again
And fly into the glow

He spoke of crater neath the sea
That no-none else had found
And of the emperors on its edge
That swam and swam around

He dived there once while he was young
And stared into its face
He floated over endless depths
And joined the schooling race

And as he talked of all these things
His eyes looked up and called
At falcon flying in the wind
And falcon went to fall

The bird it sailed above our heads
And circled in the day
And seemed to talk to Bob the man
The man from Horseshoe Bay

Bob was looking up to bird
And threw a scrap up there
And falcon swooped and took the thing
And sailed into the air

The island trees were watching this
Amongst the boulder shapes
And gently moved a loving sway
And smiled upon the place.

Time was endless by his side
We watched the fading light
And listened to his magic tales
And watched the birds take flight

But time must end in all these things
And memory will stir
Of sitting by his wonder side
And breathing in the air

And as we go to city place
And fall into the race
Our mind will go to Horseshoe Bay
Remembering the way

We came upon this aged man
While walking long the shore
And sunset drew us to his side
And kookaburra’s call