Immersion
Into the depths of reflection
A world of tranquility
Heart rendering beauty
Of stillness.

Another, and then another turn
in the quiet river
Beguiles a new view
A continued reflection
A sheer ribbon that stretches
Sky, trees, bush, bank, bush, trees, river
A stream of duality.

Harmony in mirrored reflection
Trailing the course of the river,
Broken, now and then, by frightened ducks
Propelling wings and feet into flight
Casting ripples that distort and shimmer.

Or, an opposing speed boat
Churning waters of calm
Into disturbance,
Where turbulence peels trailing boat wake
Into petering folds,
Until calm is restored.

Light transforms
A tattered paperbark
Mirrored in the depths of river
Twinned in reflected glory
Captured in the moment.

An osprey espied atop a tree
causes interest
And sunning shags with outstretched wings
So too, tales of a village of river shacks
Accessible by boat
Our guide a fount of local knowledge
Educates, entertains with wit

Satin-gloss stream of images
A snake of apposing river sides
Sliding in floating boat rhythm
A slow course
Meandering our lives
To river mouth

Where breached oceanic waves
Fanatically transform isolated Yeagarup Beach
In daily reshape
Where terns and gulls and sea fowl
Rest
Witnesses of natural wildness
Disturbed by curious tourists.

Coursing a pristine wilderness
On a touring slowboat cruise
Along a stretch of WA’s Donnelly
Such a privilege
To experience

Nancy Wilkinson
Y Striders’ Pemberton June Long Weekend Escape
4 June 2017