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DARLING RIVER BACK BLOCK SEQUENCE
7. River Journey
B. Along The Darling
the strange whistle of overflow into billabongs/ beneath
a full moon and the shadowy gatherings of animals/ we
followed a black swan for twenty kilometres/ the yellow
plastic detergent bottles attached to string hung in the
branches/ markers from a bygone festival of the great
canoe race to bourke/ viewed by the frozen kids of feral
goats hiding in the roots/ after the third day without food/
my partner believes we are rowing in circles/ says he has
seen the same river gum 500 times/ we were tiny little
specs as the river expanded/ handkerchiefs covering our
faces/ as we followed the treeline down the middle/ the
river got a boost from the bogan and we rode the ripples
as high as wedgetails/ it was on the rise a few feet every
night between bre and bourke/ whistling and popping/ lifting
the snags and cranes to the high trees/ and closer to town a
few black ducks were outnumbered by shooters/ the current
was lifting the drowning bull ants/ and tiny flocks of wagtails
dipping into the water/ a black storm spiraled overhead in
the afternoon/ turning the river upside down/ land to the
east came in layers of purple/ river black swans and brown
green thunder clouds/ the water was polluted/ we couldn't
drink it/ so we opened our mouths as the rain came down | 
