This will hurt me...

Abandoned rose. Marion Bay, Tasmania. March 2013. It's Theme Thursday and my apologies for the story. It's a true story, but not a pretty one. If you're faint hearted, simply admire the picture and move way now. You have been warned. Don't worry, we'll get to the theme. Be patient and bear with me. There are two toilets in the complex where I work. One is always locked and only people who work in the complex have the key, the other is unlocked 90% of the time, but lockable. I prefer to use the locked one. On Monday morning I was ready to burst after walking in from the town and immediately went to the unlocked one, as it was closer. There is also a separate vestibule with sinks, mirrors prior to entering the business end of the equation. I sensed an evil presence as soon as I walked into the place. Now, in this toilet area there are three seated toilets and three urinals. In the seated one on the left , the cubicle was covered in urine and there ...

Doesn't he look delighted with this urchin?

Even the largest of creatures can be harmed by discarded rubbish. Do the world a favour and Take3 .

Henry! Explain yourself.

I still don't reckon that it will burn...

I'm not certain that it will burn...

Grapefruit in the bay. Kangaroo Bay, Bellerive. February 2012. Each Watery Wednesday must feature all sorts of flotsam and jetsam. I am not sure whether today's grapefruit constitutes flotsam or jetsam . The romantic in me would like to think that it was an intriguing bit of flotsam , making it all the way to Bellerive via the great Southern Ocean current after a Chilean fruit tender struck a rogue squid or something or other. It is of course more likely to be jetsam , cast aside by some foolish rapscallion as part of some sophomoric prank. BAH! [Of course, maritime law seems flotsam as floating wreckage of a ship or its cargo . Conversely, jetsam is part of a ship, its equipment, or its cargo that is purposefully cast overboard or jettisoned to lighten the load in time of distress and that sinks or is washed ashore .]

Sea weed. Alone. On a beach. Little Howrah Beach, April 2011. It's hard being tired all the time. Sea Poppies , by H. D. Amber husk fluted with gold, fruit on the sand marked with a rich grain, treasure spilled near the shrub-pines to bleach on the boulders: your stalk has caught root among wet pebbles and drift flung by the sea and grated shells and split conch-shells. Beautiful, wide-spread, fire upon leaf, what meadow yields so fragrant a leaf as your bright leaf?