When Paradise Returns--By Suzanne Delaney--United States

When Paradise Returns

That first year we cursed the flood,
channeled from the border creek
and basin of lakes that added their support,
King tides gave flux to sheets
of water, rising silently after falling,
following the low-lying land
spilling once again between
the waiting paperbarks

Our cattle, cut off from us, stood
utterly dejected, on these new
islands that formed - birds came
with the sounds of paradise,
re-claiming their natural habitat

That next year we waited with
the paperbarks, watching for the birds
to fill the wetland
waiting for them to fill the silent
fields again, as if by magic,
no longer cursed

Suzanne Delaney is a retired Registered Nurse. A resident of Hawaii, USA she was born in Tasmania. She now has time to pursue her passion for writing poetry, creating collages and for traveling.