The warm winter dawn lightened into day
And a scattering of cumulus cloud,
Pink with the first rays of the rising sun,
Shared the sky with a pair of ospreys
Who hunted on salt-scented air.
As we watched the full moon slip from sight
Beside the isolated enchantment of Mount Cooroy
There was silence on our lips
      and joy in our hearts.

In the swaying, air-conditioned carriage
The brooding quietness was scarcely interrupted
By the sound of wheels in motion,
      the rustling of newspapers,
            and the snores of a sleeping commuter –
Sounds truncated by minds already absorbed
With the problems of the day ahead,
      or promise of the approaching weekend.
As the train sped along the escarpment
      toward the frosty plain
The eastern sky radiated with an orange aurora:
      sunrise over smog.