Live Encounters Poetry & Writing June 2026
River Stones Dream Of The Sea, poems by Shona Bridge.
River Stones Dream Of The Sea
What will happen
when I ford the river’s
cool quickness,
washing away the silt
of all the places
my mind lures me,
like yesterday
and tomorrow?
Threads come loose
when I pull them,
careful stitches
unravel. What will
happen when I wade
long-hemmed
into the homing current
of all that flows?
Wild
Have you seen how trees
offer branches, forgiving
the seasons? I am learning
the language of leaves;
I want to believe it’s not
too late. When I am
bones, earth will hold me.
Like trees, poets already
know they belong. If they are
wrong, so are the trees.
Paper Daisies
Standing over the
neighbour’s mower, my father
frowns. Citrus rises
on the threat of rain.
My father yanks the mower’s
chord but the motor
doesn’t fire. He pulls,
pulls again. His face is now
as dark as the clouds.
At last, the motor
flares, catches; spinning blades rush
over grass until
the mower strikes poo.
My father swears. His words land
hard on my memory
of our kind neighbour,
fallen under her clothes line,
her skin tracked with ants.
Now the afternoon
stinks and the bees are gone from
the paper daisies.
© Shona Bridge
Shona Bridge lives and works on Darkinjung land (NSW Central Coast). She is currently working on her debut collection of poetry. Her poems have appeared in The Marrow, Hecate, Ribbons, Kokako and various anthologies. When she’s not writing, Shona is out in her community sharing the skills and tools of Yoga. She is passionate about nervous system regulation as a counter movement to the challenges of our lives. Shona loves well-crafted writing that dares to speak from the heart. Insta: @shonawrites