The Academi Cardiff International Poetry Competition

Linda Rogers

He Saw the Pale

On the Poya, or full moon day, the
photographer took his parents to a shrine
by the sea to pray, as was their custom.
The beach was crowded with tourists,
some of them Buddhist, some of them
sun worshippers lying in bronzed rows
on the sand. On the first drive by, he saw
wire fences surrounding rich peoples’
gardens, and beggars who would have
been tempted by the papayas in their trees
and silks blowing on their clotheslines.

On the second drive by, he noticed a blue
dress hanging from one of the fences.
He watched as the first waves brought
fish to the shore and saw laughing children
run home with the catch in their hands.

It was a miracle. On the Poya, or full
moon day like the ones when Lord Buddha
was born, attained enlightenment and
died, the earth moved and the ocean
delivered food to the hungry.When he
stood on his car to take pictures, he saw
dresses hanging like prayer flags on many
fences as if to celebrate the day of reflection.

A few frames later, he saw the pale
sunbathers tossed at the high tide line.
When the floodwaters carried him and
his camera down the road past the rich
peoples’ houses, he realised the dresses
hanging on fences were not laundry
or flags or dolls woven among the barbed
wire. They were arms and legs and faces
strained from the angry floodwaters
the way whales capture fish in their
teeth. The little blue dress was a child
who may or may not have been playing
in an enclosed garden. What does it
matter now which side of the fence
she was on when the big wave struck?

 

Linda Rogers, is a teacher, children’s writer, and award-winning poet who describes herself as obsessed with the human story. She also writes fiction (both adult and juvenile), and has recently expanded into non-fiction. She is Past President of The League of Canadian Poets and has lectured in English and creative writing at the University of British Columbia, Malaspina College, Camosun College, and the University of Victoria.