Today’s Poet’s Corner contribution comes from Kristin Martin, who lives in Adelaide near the sea with her family, five spiny leaf insects, two canaries, two turtles, five fish and hundreds of earthworms.
The Threat of Genetics
It was history, and the threat of genetics,
that set him on his daily trudge to the outlet
and back
spurred on by his youngest sister’s tactlessness,
disguised as honesty,
when she announced as he blew out the candles:
you’re the age Dad was, at the first of his three heart attacks
and when was the last time you raised a sweat?
As he defiantly pounded history into the sand,
pushed genetics back into the soupy sea from which it had emerged
scraps of pleasure surprised him.
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The pink cockleshell mirrored in the morning sky.
The comic pelican perched atop its statue.
The rippled tide-pool capturing cotton-wool clouds.
And he gradually realised it was the highlight of his day,
and though he would never put it into words,
he felt thankful for his sister’s lack of tact.
Kristin Martin’s poems and short stories can be found in various magazines and anthologies, including Tadpoles in the Torrens (Wakefield Press, 2013), and on her website: kristinmartin.net.
Readers’ original and unpublished poems up to 30 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to [email protected]. A poetry book will be awarded to each contributor.