The Poetry of Tuggerah Lake
Our walk begins on the beach,
low tide and the sea gulls
strutting on the edge,
a flotilla of pelicans glide
with the incoming tide.
A cormorant dives over and over
no chance of predicting where he’d surface.
Coffee from the barrister
at The Lake House is worth the anticipation
(no milk at the apartment so we were hanging out.)
Two fisherman gut their catch at the sink- bench
and pelicans line up for their share of the feed.
Corellas paired up and sing preening each other
some on the grass, some in the trees
near an awkward looking ibis pretending
to look elegant on a branch
where cormorants play notes
on musical staves
and on the lake
black swans silky as ballerinas
flaunt with their reflections
on the shiny mirrored lake.
Lap wings were out
squawking to claim their territory.
The council has fenced off
the sand dune to protect
nests of the Little Terns
who migrate from China for the summer
and we watch their acrobatics
around the dunes and seaweed.
The sandstone rocks glint
with their striations and swivels and colour
showing us more than any history
or geology text book could
Our signature spoonbill
we expect to see, is again there
as we cross the bridge near the lake,
with his caravan of ducks and hangers-on
waiting for him to disturb the mudflat.
The morning lake catches
the clouds, the sky and ever changing light
and on our way back as the tide turns
the sea spray against the rocks
sings alleluia to another day.
