ELLA BORRIE

 

Toroa

 

Albatross carve out spirals
scooping out smooth curves
across the Southern Ocean, on the way
home to the Subantarctic.

Their invisible paths pass above
the tightly knotted rata forests—
thick trunks
woven as a warning.

The wind will uncarve
any human endeavour here— 
throw ships against Western Cliffs,
waves breaking against broken hulls
like lace.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ella Borrie received a scholarship in 2018 to travel to New Zealand’s Subantarctic Islands from the Enderby Trust and Heritage Expeditions. Her work appears in Mimicry and Starling.

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