Pippa Kay: ‘Photo of a Boy in Flight’ and ‘Jacaranda’

Photo of a Boy in Flight

He threw himself off the jetty.
The boy can fly.
Forever peddling air, a whoop scooped
from lungs to sky
carried on the mist across the river,
it ricochets from valley to mountain,
on continuous repeat.
Arms flung wide,
ready to embrace the sky,
he will not succumb to gravity.
Time frozen in a photo frame.
This boy will never die.

Pippa Kay

Jacaranda

We held our breath through a wet October
in hope she’d not forgotten how to bloom.
While rivers flooded towns, amongst the gloom
she finally flowered in November.
Like many post-war seedlings now grown old
we feared she’d die without new foliage.
But like the Queen, regardless of her age,
she had a royal duty to uphold.
Our jacaranda did not surrender
to floods and state-wide devastation.
Her roots survived the saturation.
Let’s celebrate her short-lived splendour
though late this year to don her purple crown.
Enjoy the welcome shade beneath her gown.

Pippa Kay