I find peace in a Balinese pool
swathes of water lilies
hide the flash of fish below.
A stone girl reclines in its centre
frangipani flowers scattered
like worn lovers around her.
A dragonfly zips through
trailblazing its colour
between a blur of crisp wings.
I crouch to look closer.
What I thought were brown spots
are fingernail-sized frogs
squatting on lily pads like tiny worries.
I watch a few flick into fathomless depths.
J V Birch lives in Adelaide. Her poems have appeared in anthologies, journals and magazines across Australia, the UK, Canada and the US. She has two collections – Smashed glass at midnight and What the water & moon gave me – published by Ginninderra Press, and is currently working on her third. She blogs at www.jvbirch.com.
Foxglove Journal 