Where in the World?

Bali is part of Indonesia, just east of Java, and northwest of Australia

To the north of Bali, the water’s called the Bali Sea, though big Mama’s the Indian Ocean. South of Bali, the ocean’s still big Mama, but they call it the Badung Strait. Nusa Penida, where the Turtle Center thrives, is the largest island across the Badung Strait, the water passage known to geologists as the Transition Zone, between Asia to the north and Australasia to the south.

Crossing the Badung Strait from Bali,
I turn into a giant straddling
enormous regions of the world.
Now on Nusa Penida, I rest my weary legs.
But still I wonder if it matters
where in the world I am.
The spinning blue dot of earth
can never be lost in space,
and neither can a turtle be lost.

Her flippers, at first
the size of a butterfly’s,
but at fifty, as big as me,
like wings can take her flying
through all the global seas.
She will never see herself apart
from the deeps or the clouds
or the beach where she was born.
Always she knows
that where she is
is the right place,
the only place.
So with the turtle, I say,
where in the world I am,
is here.

            ©Susa Silvermarie 2024

Geography:
Asia includes 49 countries.
Indonesia is a country (in Southeast Asia and Oceania) consisting of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Sulawesi, Java and Bali, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea.
Australasia includes Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand.
Oceania includes Australasia, Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia.