|
Her screams could be heard throughout the length and breadth of the boat. I turned the music up, not to be callous, but rather, to save the anxiety of the other passengers. She is so young, like a child.
This afternoon we played, like children. The skipper opened the gate in the sea rail, on the top deck. We dived into the ocean from up there. One hundred nautical miles from the nearest land, and the coral sea was like glass. I could actually see the coral and the millions of coloured fish below the surface. I remember thinking then. How lucky we were to be in this magic place.
Tonight I am not so sure. The music, though louder now, cannot mask her screams. "God, let me take that pain from her, even if only for a short time." I mumbled to myself, as I sank yet another beer.
The other passengers were curious as to what was happening, my duty as a crew member is to pacify, and calm them. "Nothing to worry about, just a little setback." Business as usual. "Excuse me, but we are doctors, can we help?" The words came from two Germans, on board to enjoy the diving, on their vacation in the tropics. "Yes, thank you," I whispered quietly. "I'll take you to the captain." I showed them up into the wheel house, where the mood was tense. The skipper was on the satellite phone, to the emergency services in Cairns. Some three hundred nautical miles away, in the darkness of the warm night. He was busy, with the dive director, describing to the medical expert, on the other end of the phone, exactly what drugs we had on board. The chart table was covered in boxes, and bottles of every shape and size. One of the doctors took the phone, and the conversation became more in depth, more somber.
I'll never forget this night as long as I live. Five people where suffering, after a routine night dive on Osprey reef. The youngest, a Japanese girl only twenty two years old, was the worst hit.
Silence came suddenly from my cabin. Now used as a temporary hospital, due to the fact that the oxygen is kept just through the bulkhead door in the forward hold.
A grim and sober face, on the trip director told me all was not going well. "Is she going to be OK?" I asked. He came into the galley, and whispered quietly in my ear. "She has just gone into cardiac arrest, it's not looking good I'm afraid." He paused for a moment and then added "Please don't mention this to anyone, we can't afford a mass panic."
Poet in Paradise was originally written in Queensland and published as a printed book in 2000.
The book was then extended to include Western Australia and re published in Perth.
Now available as an E-Book as well as in printed form it makes for good reading.
The book is mainly poetry and includes works written for "the Loony Poets Party" a monthly event held on the night of the full moon in Kuranda.
David was involved in the establishement of this incredible event, which brings together the exroadinary talent found hiding in the rain forest of Far North Queensland.
Poems like "The Frog" were written in the Kuranda markets. A place where artists and writers alike congregate on market days to support their habit by running a stall.
The Frog was real and the poem is a true story.
David Leigh is typical of a whole breed of new writers in Australia. He lives for his work.
In David's case the chains of the modern world, hampered his writing, so he packed a few things in a backpack and left Perth for Cairns with just his laptop.
For two years he supported himself anyway he could and just wrote.
"Trauma at Sea" was written, for instance, when he worked as a cook on a diving boat on the Great Barrier Reef.
He is passionate about the rain forest and the ocean. The simple things in life. This reflects in his work.
He encountered some interesting people and wrote poems about them. "Maggie" and "Cliffy" for example.
We hope you enjoy reading "Poet in Paradise" BUY IT NOW AT JUST US$4.00
The Rocket Frog Unique to Kuranda.
Drawn by Patricia Oates.
The Kuranda "Rocket Frog" unnique to the region. Drawn bt Patricia Oates.
Warning: This book contains sexual references and adult themes.Fiction ebooks
Amazon.com 100 Hot Books!
|
