Fotoula Reynolds is a retired Education Support Aide. Born in Australia of Greek heritage she lives in the Dandenong Ranges in southern Australia. A writer of poetry, Fotoula finds her inspiration in the nature that surrounds her. Her writing journey began in 2016 and as a latecomer to the art, this means she has accumulated years of stories to tell and is now slowly unravelling them. She convenes a poetry group in her local community and regularly attends and participates in spoken word events in and around the city of Melbourne.

Fotoula has authored three previous poetry collections and is published widely in anthologies, journals, reviews and magazines and was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2019. Her fourth book of poems titled ‘Kairos’ is due for release in late October 2022

Also by Fotoula Reynolds:  *The sanctuary of my garden

                                                *Silhouettes

                                                *Along the Macadam Road

September-gold

Sometimes life feels like 
The tiny artful twists of a bonsai
Choreographing me to the places
I am meant to be

With full authority
Rising, climbing the air
Like the sunflower that I am
Mysterious and becoming
Dancing into destiny

Feeling safe and hidden
Behind a weeping willow’s
Curtain-like branches, I’m moved
To beyond all that I know

Treading lightly on seeds
That are September-gold
I navigate a spider web thread
And see the pattern within
Emotion-weave into my soul

On a path of unendingness
My heart travels a landscape
Through butterfly-eyes
I breathe a clean language

On the rotating weather wheel
I am further than middle age
I no longer follow a map and
I trust the season of change

The “to-do” list

Look up to look at a stranger
Run back to the home within
Your heart
Seek refuge, offer refuge
Find the creative in you
Be ready to grow with
The next rainbow
Write a love letter
Put it in a poem/song
Listen to a forest breathe
Feed a wounded animal
Cup a child’s face
See their dreaming
Feel the world ache
Feel your soul break
Feel the invisible air
Finger-trace on a map
Your next journey
Look into the eyes of
The elderly
They hold our history
Touch a river’s flow
In all directions
Eat luxuriously, share always
Speak unapologetically of truth
Laugh till you hear the music
Dance right into your life
Step into your identity
Announce it in folklore
Keep it alive, it is your duty
Bless a garden under moonlight
Become mesmerised by the
Iridescent membrane of a 
Dragonfly’s wings
Lay a Christmas beetle in the
Palm of your hand
Watch joy unfold