When I was young, a drone was just a bee

That didn’t do much. Or it was a sound.

But through its camera eyes I now can see

The body shapes of rocks we played around.

Isabel and I – how well we knew

The rocky beachscape’s crags and sandy coves.

The basalt reefs bedecked with shells that grew

Black, sharp and thick in massive spreading droves.

Each rockpool was a kingdom treasure-full

Of creatures: lettuce seaweed, fish and red

Anemones, grey-green starfish, minuscule

Crustaceans, sponges. But above our head

A lone gull circled, or was it future’s hand

Recording, mapping our coastal childhood land.

(February, 2025)

Dana Tymms was born in Adelaide to Czech refugee parents. As part of the retraining scheme for migrant doctors, her family moved to Tasmania when she was a child, and she grew up in Penguin and Hobart. After studying at the University of Tasmania, she followed a career, teaching German and French in three Australian states. Now semi-retired and living in Melbourne, she says she is still Tasmanian at heart.