For the birds at Tangalooma, Moorgumpin (Moreton Island)
White-bellied sea eagle 
it was a sight to sea me, bird of pray nip cormorant

neck n yank clean off, blood flushing beige

sand red, her wedding dress                  now russet as screams

swoosh me to abandon my picnic 	but no, thank u

i’ll keep ripping n rummaging til every organ

morsel is skinned         n gorged
Bush stone curlew 
My party trick? I stay up all day and only sleep

when the very last tourist does. But there’s always one

awake, torso tipping, guts splashed up

in the garden like upended beer bottle.

I’ve only had alcohol once, funnelled with pincer beak

as beetle chaser. Tasted like seawater

gone vinegar. I live in this 90s paradise with Michael

Jackson tunes swelling near signs flashing

WordArt fonts. My knees ache swollen and I still feel

hungover. I’m a life jacket

         time loop, a nocturnal

                  error. I’m one scream away

                           from erratic rebirth.
Whistling kite 
Cheeee chk chk 	chk chk         cheeee! Cheeee

chk chk         chk chk         cheeee!
White-faced heron 
Harry’s wedding was a tragic sight: two lanky grey birds

preening and feather fluffing ‘I dos’ – then whiptail flash

and swoop                       of white

and she              was gone, tucked up

limp                       in grappler claws. 
Now bride haunts shoppers’ finger-smudged window

as groom’s ghost-grey reflection. He paces

and fusses, 	     paces

and waits. 	     She should

be back soon.
Welcome swallow
softly born & tourist-raised in boneyard

         museum of eggshell & nest …… a living artifact

sailing on aircon winds, asking …… Can I land

         on your shoulder? …… I weigh almost

nothing …… Can I land

         on your shoulder? …… Can I land ……
Pelican
I’m counter shaded like cormorant: burnt

on top, bleached under belly, like a flipped

Top Deck chocolate, like bleeding mud

inking snow. You fling silver fish spiny-head first

and I swallow it whole. 
         I enveloped a chihuahua once: joyous jaw-full of dog

                  until companion yanked leash like flossing.

         I always want what I shouldn’t have. Like fish-filled bucket

                  all to myself. Like hand, plastic, hook.