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Josef Lesser
lost & found in the ocean
annabelle lost her virginity in the ocean
bill his gold watch, the waterproof shockproof
date calendar time-piece inscribed ‘from mum’,
dad lost his leg posted in the mouth of a grey nurse
the same day a letter washed up in a bottle posted
in the pit-stop break of battle, blood stamped and sealed;
annabelle swam the downstream tides of life
as a mermaid selling sea shells and sex by the seashore
bill never joined the navy, waves dropped tiny notes
of reminder bitter as the rind of acid rain; david did
signed for seven years found salvation in the waters
crossed his chest when Jesus walked beside the ship,
this of course became daily routine after the blast
the same that stamped ‘lost at sea’ a routine letter
slipped beneath the door where his best mate once lived,
down the road from the barber where old man Turner
plied his trade in shaping hair and crafting wigs
while his son found their superannuation comfort
from the colours of tormented seas from fire and sail;
unlike natives nailing retirement from fish and pearls
picking clean the corpse of sunken craft preserved
by guardians of the deep, yesterday his brother unfolded
two silver daggers one half blind with an emerald eye
today Miguel the youngest squints from the golden
wave of light a theory of physics he does not know
like the words he cannot read ‘to bill from mum’;
tomorrow the family will feast on pig bartered for a watch. |
| Josef Lesser: "I live with my wife
in Coffs Harbour which is on the mid-north coast of
New South Wales Australia. In my retirement I commenced writing
poetry as a mode of sharing my thoughts and experiences with
others. I believe poems are as distinct from one person to another as
fingerprints. My poetry has been published in England, America,
Canada, New Zealand and Australia." email J.Lesser |
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