Man On A Jetty

• Charles Higgins, Grade 8
• Poetry
• 2014

One lonely man sets foot on the jetty

Old mooring tyres, secured in place,
Jostle against the jetty sides,
The water gently stirs them
Up and down, Up and down – bobbing.

He glances at the setting sun
On the cusp between day and night
The boabs his only company
Their branches lit up:
Embers glowing against the oncoming night

The water, silent and glass-like,
Glistens in the sun’s descendence
Then a touch of movement:
Ripples corrugate the water’s surface,
And knock against the jetty’s struts

The moon is like a flashlight, white
In the blanket of dark
Casting light upon the figure.
The jetty holds him up;
Supports him. He walks away,
Leaving only the moon.