Almanac Poetry: Manly Ferry in Thunderstorm
Trouble brewing in the skies above a Manly Ferry [Source: Bernard Spragg/Flickr]
Manly Ferry in Thunderstorm
Skies grimmest
dark lead.
Lashing rain
on white-capped Sydney Harbour.
Fork lightning spikes,
electrifies
the desolate arc.
Black thunder unfurls, reverberates.
The ferry creaks and pitches. Inside,
I fix my eyes on land, afraid,
silently praying for refuge.
(Acknowledgement: first appeared in my fifth poetry collection, Please Feed the Macaws…I’m Feeling Too Indolent, Ginninderra Press, South Australia. 2023.)
Read more from Kevin Densley HERE
Kevin Densley’s latest poetry collection, Please Feed the Macaws…I’m Feeling Too Indolent, is available HERE
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About
Kevin Densley is a graduate of both Deakin University and The University of Melbourne. He has taught writing and literature in numerous Victorian universities and TAFES. He is a poet and writer-in-general. His sixth book-length poetry collection, Isle Full of Noises, was published in early 2026 by Ginninderra Press. He is also the co-author of ten play collections for young people, as well as a multi Green Room Award nominated play, Last Chance Gas, published by Currency Press. Other writing includes screenplays for educational films.
Gripping stuff KD. I felt your fear.
Thanks, DB.
As I recall, when the ferry trip started from Circular Quay, the weather was fine. But it suddenly turned very nasty.
Puts a new spin on ‘ As the Manly Ferry cuts its way to Circular Quay.’
Ha, yes, DB.
‘As the Manly Ferry, narrowly avoids disaster / On its way from Circular Quay…’
Thanks for the referral to this poem KD. As a Sydneysider, I’m not sure what all the fuss & commotion is all about when there’s a bit of weather on the harbour. The Manly Ferry ‘cut’ becomes symphonic, with a cool brisk breeze, freshing sea spray and ‘hold onto yer hat!’. That’s called ‘living!’ Cheers.
Well, Karl, I must have been really ‘living’ when I went on the ferry trip depicted in this poem! The breeze was much more like a gale, the sea spray was instead salt water by the bucket load, and the sky was jagged was fork lightning and electricity. The storm whipped up suddenly – I’m sure the ferry wouldn’t have departed if the weather was this bad before we set off.
As George Costanza in Seinfeld once said: ‘The sea was angry that day, my friend.’