The Collage pictured was unfortunately damaged in a gallery mishap and retired soon after. At least I have a picture of it. 🥰
I have loved Henry Lawson’s 1891 poem, ‘The Babies of Walloon’ ever since hearing of the tragic true story that inspired it. I learned of it first in 2015 through its connection to the Ipswich Poetry Feast competition. Then, in 2016, I was given the opportunity to visit the same lily pond in which the two little sisters, Mary Jane and Bridget Kate Broderick, were drowned near Walloon. It had a lasting effect. I wrote a few different poems about the experience trying to capture it in words but not quite achieving it. In 2020 I turned to art and did a mixed-media collage based on Henry’s poem but, it too seemed to fall short. In 2021, I was given the opportunity to have my work published in an anthology called ‘Beyond Lawson’. The task was to write two poems inspired by Henry’s work. Of course, I knew in an instant what one of them would have to be. So, I took all my previous attempts and reworked them into one poem. Hopefully, it does justice to a sad and enduring story…
Still, the Lilies Bloom
See, the lilies still are blooming
with a beauty all-consuming
though a hundred years and more have passed in time.
Yet these same deceptive waters,
that once drowned the lengthman’s daughters,
hold the echoes of the church bells lonely chime.
Sighing grass, as it is swaying,
hint at words they once were saying
as they wandered through this quiet lonely field.
Running errands for their mother,
holding tight to one another,
drawn and tempted by those lilies. Did they yield?
Did their mother love the flowers,
oh, those pretty water bowers,
did they put the loving smile upon her face?
Were the waterlilies calling
as the younger started falling?
Did the older grab her sister in embrace?
Like the turning of the seasons,
I can only guess the reasons,
why their destiny should hold a fate so cruel.
Were their parents disbelieving
in their shock and awful grieving
as they pulled them from the waters of that pool?
Yet, I hear their gentle laughter
as it echoes ever after.
Sadly, both of them were taken all too soon
but I know that they’re together,
bound in loves eternal tether,
kept forever as ‘The Babies of Walloon’.
Park dedication to the Broderick sisters in the town of Walloon.
Photograph of the actual pond in which the two little girls drowned.
My copy of the ‘Beyond Lawson’ anthology with the commemorative medallion I received.
This picture shows the beautiful trophy given for the overall winner of the Ipswich Poetry Feast competition featuring a statuette of the Broderick sisters. I was lucky enough to win this in 2015.
These are the beautiful words of HENRY LAWSON’S poem – The Babies of Walloon. He wrote this poem in 1891
Plaque erected in the park featuring Henry Lawson’s original poem.