Nardoo

NARDOO

Long-since legendary
Nardoo leaf is shaped like
A four-leafed clover it isn't;
A leaf that can float in water
Like the water lilies it isn't;
A plant that all but
Disappears into the dust
Till its flourish rush
Come the rains.

With starchy rhizome
Balls called sporocarps
Full of sustaining meal
A providence far from home.
Poor-man's flour of Nardoo
Dried might keep you alive
As it did for humble King when
Proud Burke and Wills expired
Where Aborigines thrived.

Image: Nardoo with sporocarps