There’s the faint sound of the clock tick being drowned by the bubbling in the fountain. Apart from that minor motion it had been quiet that morning in the square. Later the market had opened as normal and fast sales of fish cheese ham wine meats olives and all sorts of produce got revving up throughout the day. That morning too, a local couple had gone to work in the midst of an argument. He to his office some miles from the square and she to her own boutique just a short walk away. She’d stormed out of the house and caught a bus into town instead of normally getting dropped off by her husband. On the strength of that, he decided to get in his new convertible and get to the office car park early.
When the offices closed for the day, she walked down to the market having calmed a little and waited for her husband to pick her up. Normal time being 6:30pm in winter as it was. As she sat by the fountain and thought through the day she somehow regretted being so impetuous with the email she’d sent that afternoon. ‘How dare he’ … ‘just go buy a sports car like that’ .. who was he trying to impress ?’. she thought. It was cold on the fountain step outside the hall and when the normal time ticked past she felt she should probably give him another chance.
His nice fast black car slowed a little as it drove through the square about an hour later. Looking out the window he saw her there waiting. ‘Stupid’ he thought and sped off at a great rate.
For some reason possibly the effect of the fountain and the clock she felt happy. If he came back around the block, well then good. If he didn’t well then good for that too and begone with the car.
We moving fast and strong, and if I think on it quite attractive fire. You down there in the riot would not notice us from earth. We left some day ago and we didn’t make the papers since they are long since dead and gone. The dragon ship is tight and moving along the gravity line between our earth and moon and sun. I looked out just a minute back and saw it rising past our cockpit window screen. Full and bright in the sunshine. Yes right now Idon’t care for your texts or facebook posts of cats and dogs.
In just a minute it will be the new year down in China and our new year as well. I pressed play on Teresa Teng’s 月亮代表我的心 “Yueliang …Wo De Xin”.. in the final minutes of the latest moon dragon phase.
Rolling Jarrett bells of star chords singing with a statement then questions to follow. Who is that strong bright thing in the sky ? That rocket ship sitting so confident and ready to strike ? The man in it and why ? No my love, that represents my heart. Yeah, you know how you kissed me when I left. Now that is how I love you. How the moon is tonight. Do you remember it ?
Slow Slow.. slower.. slow.. we are coming up to the spot … that difficult spot in space … where you have to stop and pause in the Lagrangian moment.
Yes the earth is far enough to have no more impact that it’s favourite moon now.
A space ship in sound around in a quiet space with engines stopped and slow moving very slow you wouldnt know of course but waiting on no power. Then I thought carefully. That moon reflects my heart. So you could look up now and see it and know it is how my heart is. A change of heart. I did it just to please you. But now I wish you were here or I was there. Just outside it… waiting on a Lagrangian point of love.
Photo of ‘Heart in a Bowl’ attribution : Auntie K : Flickr.
The bird – I don’t know what bird – maybe a lyrebird mimic was there. In the gully just down by the falls. A bush rat ran past in a hurry. Old cold blocks of rock hemmed us in between the west cold mountain and the sea. We’d climbed 400 metres up along the elevated walkways and rope bridges straddling the rivulet. Past giant strangler figs and stinging trees. Past ancient red cedars, the survivors of past logging trails. A native rainforest in a sandstone slot gorge carved out of the old dividing range with a view of the pacific ocean to the east over Kiama. Now we had arrived, a long walk up to the top where the falls are found. Here though the long curtains of lighted water falling are thin and scarce into the pool below.
I just wanted to see it, having heard it. With no cautionary thought, I had jumped over the railing and landed heavily in the bush below the viewing platform. Jane cried out, “What are you doing !!!”.. but too late, as I started sliding down into the gorge, trying to grab something but moving down fast. Rocks and sandy bits came raining down on me as I clung onto a gum tree branch overhanging the falls gorge below.
“It’s nothing” – I called back, listening to the sound of my voice bouncing off the rock walls.
Jane muttered something about stupid and moronic – how I could have killed myself. The wind was up, and I carefully thought through the sudden kind of stuck predicament I was in. I’d shoved my phone in my pocket before clambering over the fence, so I should be ok. My clothes were kind of ripped up and I worried about how dishevelled I would appear once I got back the platform. How exactly since I had only a grip on a branch hanging down with the slippery rain forest ground cover between me and the platform.
I was hanging on this branch, I was ok. No clue now how to get back up to the platform.
“Jane, can you see if someone has a rope ?? and throw it down ?? . I can’t get up.” – I called again… loudly… More echoes.
“Why can’t you just pull up on that branch, and get up here that way ?”, she said.
“Look, just go get one from somewhere quick.:” – I said, and then with that the branch broke. No need for a rope anymore I thought tumbling down through space and straight down into the slot – basically free fall, until I hit the side of the gorge and bounced all the way down into the water below… which hurt and suddenly the noise of the birds was replaced by the frigid cold murk of the rock pool at the bottom.
COLD COLD WET COLD LONELY COLD WET SLIME COLD WET BUBBLES GREEN AND ROCKS AND THINGS
PAIN PAIN AHHHH – blood coming out — my knee hip and elbow seem to have got hit on the way down into the pool. I clambered onto the rocks and lay there for a bit. Coudn’t hear anything – too preoccupied with the body signals coming from all over me.
After I bit I tried to get up – Jane was way up there, about 100 feet or more up calling frantically.
“You ok, Where are you ?, Where are you ? John ! : “where are you “. she called.
I had landed below a ledge somehow and could not see directly up to the platform.
“I’m down here below .. I’m ok but I don’t know how to get out of here.” – I yelled again.
It went quiet , quiet like the birds wanted to know what just happened. Quiet like I did as well and Jane must have run off to get a rope [finally] or help of some kind.
The gravity of the massive earth sucked us on our towels into the sand of the beach. Our wet skin and shivering arms in the sunlight for the lifeguard to see. Out of the seawater, streaming green seaweed locks of hair in cascades of ringlets down the side of her face. An hour of afternoon we lay there and lazily swam from time to time aware of each others metaphoric selves. Lay pressed our arms on crushed sea shells with small sharp pricks. There was a cool breeze blowing across the bay and the scheme of things.
“when will you go back ?” I asked
“soon, I’ll go back and see how the ocean is doing”
“It’s too heavy here for you ?”
“Yes, the sky pushes down on me .. that part is tiring..”, she said.
“Everyone is looking at you… Not surprising really.. by the way it was fun !”
“I might just shift under that umbrella — do you mind ? – The sun is too strong”
“I thought of a poem about you.. want to hear it ?”
Blogubarra 