A gift for Australia and the children of the world <br />Edited by Adrienne Barnathan (Australian) <br /> <br />I dreamt of Australia, <br />Land of the zoo <br />With many a rah <br />and many a roo; <br />Where kangaroos leap <br />and emus skip; <br />Where koalas cuddle <br />and cockatoos cackle; <br />Where barramundis swim <br />and dingoes teem; <br />Where kookaburras laugh <br />and wallabies hop; <br />Where echidnas probe <br />and wombats rove; <br />Where opossums fake <br />and bandicoots rake; <br />Where budgerigars tweet <br />and crocodiles seethe; <br />Where platypuses ‘plash <br />and Tasmanian devils crash. <br />An island continent <br />where cows are content. <br />A land so vast – <br />’twas snubbed by the Dutch. <br />The land where lies Uluru, <br />a protean plateau; <br />Where lies Kakadu <br />with many a cockatoo; <br />Where lies Kogarah <br />with all the birds’ brouhaha; <br />Where lies Canberra, <br />Seat of the zoo’s chimaera; <br />Where lies Darwin, <br />evolution still a-ragin’; <br />Where lies Darling, <br />still a-weeping; <br />Where lies <br />the Great Dividing Range <br />Between me and the range; <br />Where lies <br />the Great Barrier Reef, <br />impossible to leap; <br />Where lies Timbuktu, <br />a mountain to climb through; <br />Where lies Waterroo <br />of my dream untrue. <br /> <br />(Hong Kong,2001)<br /><br />Gilbert Pangyarihan<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/waterroo/
