Missing a river

[CellarDoor]

Mountainous pillars lit tall,
set ablaze by a radiant nebulous boiler,
encompass this billabong by the foreshore.

The river left here years ago.

Now
these stagnant chlorinated waters,
churned tepid,
sting the senses into acute clarity.

There's no more fish,
the river left here decades ago.

These acrid caves,
where bathers change their skin,
And eyes turn lustrous scintillating black
to polarize the scene.

Everybody changes,
there's no more fish,
the river left here centuries ago.

A cloud submersed,
these waves reside,
and chemicals assault all micro-organisms.
A forest of monoliths
embrace this little billabong.

Then a new day dawns
and everybody changes
but there's no more fish;
The river left here aeons ago (before the dawn of man).

[CellarDoor]

I know most people here are not from Aus; a billabong is an Australian Aboriginal word for an oxbow lake, left when a river changes course: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billabong

[Delta40]

Well I certainly like the tacit transformation into crocodillia....I'm not sure if that was your intention but I know I'd never swim in a billabong for that reason

[hillwalker]

Despite my non-antipodean history I enjoyed this... after overcoming the opening 3 lines that are rather hard going.

There are some great images :

These acrid caves,
where bathers change their skin,

no idea what it means but it's memorable.

H