when is salt delicious?
on a really hot day
when you slowly saunter
into the bay

flop down, head first
plop! into water …
on warm sand, son
and beautiful daughter

feeble breast stroke
turn over onto back
forget about time
completely lose track

salt licks wounds physical
and emotional, and other
problems disappear
under saltwater cover

waves gently break
over face and shoulder
venture out further
get a bit bolder

Port Phillip Bay
clean and healthy
enjoyed by all comers
not just super-wealthy

over three million
people live beside
Melbournians play
low and high tide

surf-kite lifts
young man in air
modern Icarus
tanned, blond hair

much further out
white-sailed yacht
dips up and down
and tacks a lot

young boy in hat
with bucket and spade
imagines sand palace
in structure he’s made