I stand
Looking
Staring
Not idly gazing
At the barbs beneath the surface
Set there by man?
By fishes?
Or are they kelpie or mermaid wishes?
To snag an eye
To mesmerise
An unwary passerby
To hook
To catch
To reel them in
To fall face flat into that water
To die
I pass on by
That’s not for me this day
crispina kemp 
Yes, I’d totally pass on by too. Best not to leave certain things to chance!
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Thank you, Tony. One reason to pass on by is I took that photo from the top of a rather precipitous slope! In danger of slipping and falling in
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Talk about suffering for your art! 😋
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Brilliant piece I love it – the structure mimics its subject matter, short, punchy lines in the middle – To hook / To catch / To reel them in—create a quickening pace, like a line being pulled. You build momentum that makes the final “I pass on by” feel like genuine relief🙌
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Thank you. I feel myself blushing at such a compliment. But then you are a poet, and your understand these things
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You have got me wondering now- is there barbed wire in the water? maybe a fallen fence?
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No, it’s the reflection of the fence. But I like the ambiguity of it. As you say, is it in the water?
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Not a place I’d care to linger. Well done, Crispina.
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