Side by side
Straddling the midriff
Between fore and aft
Of land that’s slipped its anchor
Into liquid crystal
Silvery blue
Or bluish silver
Depending on mood
One inviting, fleshy, serene
Parabolic and hyperbolic
Moulded like upturned cup-cakes
With pink icing
Streaming down their sides
The other forbidding, craggy, violent
Jagged and ragged
Strewn onto the plate
With dark abandon
Gathered into jutting peaks
Yet each with its different kind of beauty
That on its own
Might seem dull or gaunt
Flabby or skeletal
A different breed of sterility
But in the company of the other
Breeds fertility in the valleys
Exuberant with life
That takes the rough & the smooth
Within its stride
Where no smile can live without wrinkles