Waterroo Poem by Gilbert Pangyarihan

A gift for Australia and the children of the world
Edited by Adrienne Barnathan (Australian)

I dreamt of Australia,
Land of the zoo
With many a rah
and many a roo;
Where kangaroos leap
and emus skip;
Where koalas cuddle
and cockatoos cackle;
Where barramundis swim
and dingoes teem;
Where kookaburras laugh
and wallabies hop;
Where echidnas probe
and wombats rove;
Where opossums fake
and bandicoots rake;
Where budgerigars tweet
and crocodiles seethe;
Where platypuses ‘plash
and Tasmanian devils crash.
An island continent
where cows are content.
A land so vast –
’twas snubbed by the Dutch.
The land where lies Uluru,
a protean plateau;
Where lies Kakadu
with many a cockatoo;
Where lies Kogarah
with all the birds’ brouhaha;
Where lies Canberra,
Seat of the zoo’s chimaera;
Where lies Darwin,
evolution still a-ragin’;
Where lies Darling,
still a-weeping;
Where lies
the Great Dividing Range
Between me and the range;
Where lies
the Great Barrier Reef,
impossible to leap;
Where lies Timbuktu,
a mountain to climb through;
Where lies Waterroo
of my dream untrue.

(Hong Kong,2001)