Pool of Siloam

'Why are we choosing darkness

In the cold of winter?’

You are not amused –

After all, we were so far

Kissing the hill tops –

Bejewelled lookouts awash in sunlight

Shining with the gems –

Mount Solitary, Megalong Valley

And other jewels of the Mountains Blue

 

Before long,

We have descended into the dark

Endless stairs heading

To the depths of the forest floor

We feel the nip -

The ravines are moist

The ferns drip, the fungi breathe

But then, an unexpected gurgle:

We have come to Siloam’s Pool

 

A small waterfall tumbles

Onto golden shallow sands

And sunlight finds its way

To pour upon the pool

Like a secondary fall of gold

Like a halo, the ravine glows

We both know this is a dream

And we say not a word

 

You have already entered

The frigid waters that kiss your gasping skin

We linger in the amber pool –

Even as the light begins to fade

For we can feel the magic -

As if there are fairies waking to find

Two intruders drunk

Entwined with the jungle

No longer afraid of the dark…

 

Tucked into a shaded gully near Leura in the Blue Mountains, the Pool of Siloam is reached by a quiet bush track that winds past ferns, mossy rocks, and tall eucalyptus. At the end, a small waterfall slips gently over a sandstone ledge into a still, tea-coloured pool, enclosed by greenery and rock walls. It’s not a grand or dramatic sight, but a calm, tucked-away corner—cool, shaded, and often uncrowded—where the sound of trickling water and rustling leaves replaces the busier lookouts of the mountains.