ESSEX POETRY FESTIVAL COMPETITION 2007

Second Prize
Diana Pooley, London

Maureen

The day fish took to the air
all up and down her London street
and as far into the sky
as could be seen ­–
Snapper, Big-eye Trevally, Barracuda,
to name a few –
it wasn't until nearly sunset
and, as it happened, at the very moment
a humpheaded Wrasse
slid along and filled the narrow space
between the privet and the front window.
with its deep electric blue
and put its fat lips
against the glass and looked in
as she sat in the bay of her small room,
that it dawned on her
not only were they all tropical
but native, as she was;
to the Great Barrier Reef.