(Wo)Mangroves of Coochiemudlo
Sandy knees up, water washing over her feet,
Dark green and orange skirts held high around her waist,
Bruguiera wades demurely along the water’s edge
Wearing her red and yellow earrings, and
Listens to the lapping wavelets.
With arched thighs and long lithe legs,
Rhizophora has stridden right in!
Standing deep in mud and showing no fear
She’s calling the others to join her,
Even though she knows the tide has turned!
Oh, typical! Here comes Cottonwood!
She races over the last grassy dune in a mad scramble to join them,
Then stops, all flustered, right on the water’s edge;
Undecided about whether to plunge right in, she’s stands,
One foot in the grass, toes in the water,
As the light plays delightfully with her bare limbs
And casts shadows onto the wet sand through her light green and brown skirts.
Hey… wasn’t Ceriops going to come too?
No, she chose to go dancing on the salt-flats instead!
She’s seized a partner for a tango, and is striding out
In her swirling brown skirt and sturdy shoes.
And Avicennia… Where is she? …. She said she was coming…
Oh… don’t tell me!
Is that her?!
Way out there!!
Avicennia!
As usual, looks like she got here early and has plunged right in.
There she is, with her friends, deep in the water; her grey-green clothes right over her head, completely surrounded by the tide —
I’ll bet she’s using her snorkels to breathe.
**********
Whether they’re frolicking in the shallows, or providing shade to those that linger on the land, you’re all so lucky my girls love Coochiemudlo;
You’ll find them tirelessly patrolling the shores,
Providing habitat to birds and crabs and fish and many more, and
Helping preserve the beaches and mudflats of the Emerald Fringe that protects this precious jewel of an island…. I trust you treat them well.
Neil Davidson
Morwong Beach, Coochiemudlo Island, Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia
14 July 2019 (finished May 2020)
