When the sun hits
the surface of the Badu
morning do you know
what must be done?
When the sun hits
the surface of what must be done
fish wake to feed
river and ocean
river fish feed
shore birds training
ironic eyes to
assess the day
shore birds assess
the Badu morning
while grey limbs write
shadows across the silt
shadows lace the surface
of the Badu morning
of everything here
as good as breathing
of everything here
as sure as hope, where
the sun lights the
surface of the living
where the sun hits
the hope of the shivering
rippling sensation
of understanding
when the sun glints
off the living morning
there is a rippling
of intention
when the sun glints off
the morning badu
when thought is no more
and only time will do
when everything
breathing is alive
to sensation, alert
to morning glance
when the sun glances
off the thought
of no more, rising
waters turn to milk
when the rising
milky badu
thoughts breathe
under-surface secrets
secrets surface then
to cool their heels
with detritus
in white water
when thought hits
the surface of the badu
morning the sky
glimmers at your feet
when the surface of
trees go under
when the sky rises up
we hold our breath
we hold our breath
with each root
that we’ll make
one more day
under the surface
of this sky, under the
hope we hold for one
more chance of breathing
when the breathing
sun skims roots
as the sky rises up
everything sways
everything sways
and shivers everything
slips just out of grasp
when the shivering
sun breathes badu
do you recognise
your intention?
When you meet your
breath by the sliding sun
when the light hits
the surface of the shadow lace
when the sun hits
the surface of the Badu
morning do you know
what it is you must do?
Notes
The Badu Mangroves are located at Homebush Bay, Sydney. Badu is the Dharug word for water: “Dharug Dalang. A Collaborative Tool for Language Teaching”, http://dharug.dalang.com.au/Dharug/plugin_wiki/wordlist [Accessed 17 August 2014].
Download a pdf of Badu Mangrove Morning
Willo Drummond
Willo Drummond is a current PhD candidate in creative writing at Macquarie University and a recipient of an Australian Postgraduate Award. Recently migrated from the wilds of the NSW Blue Mountains to the shores of the Parramatta River, she has weathered previous lives as an actor, singer-songwriter, photographer and arts administrator. In 2012 she served on the assessment panel for the Varuna Publisher Fellowships and last year completed a Master of Research examining the ethics of the lyric mode in Australian ecopoetics. "Badu Mangrove Morning" formed a part of this work. Other poetry and short fiction have appeared in Cordite, The Quarry and Meniscus (forthcoming).
