Taking a break
from the insanity of mall Christmas.
Have scored mushroom-pouffed-stool
and Scandinavian blonde-wood-laminate bench.
Why faux chalet/troll
in the Macquarie Shopping Complex?
(Largest in Sydney, bloody hell,
wish I'd been told!)
cue Scooby Doo - 'Ri Ron't Row?' - I'm just
glad to sit for a bit overlooking ice rink,
perpendicular below,
cool mint for the nerves.

Skaters Swan Lake past, arms describing inverted hearts
or wet shag shaking free droplets.
One smooths air with such eclat, I visualise her
stroking lover's long hair.
A confident fellow scoots hoonish past,
pulls from my mind a film I saw once - ask not the plot,
all I recall is the frozen canals, Dutch children
costumed in cutesy-period,
cherub-cheeked, skating intent
It was some kind of race.
I think.

Eyes refocus as glorious miss
in cocktail dress, length mid-thigh,
obligatory black lace bodice, shoestring straps
and free-flowing skirt  daisying when she pirouettes.
Ensemble includes black satin gloves - joy
for this Joy
to watch dark, flickering fingers
silhouette-horizoned against
crystalline sparkle.
Gliding backwards now, surfboarder crouched,
arms performing magician's assistant flourishes
and heart-aching appeals,
the characters she creates are calligraphic,
undecipherable and yet,
written against white-diamond paper,
disappearing the instant they are
transposed,
the message is         utterly         utterly         clear.