Wild an tame at once, gracious in its movement, and harmonious in its meandering course, the Swan River looks and feels more like a lake. This lake-like soul is what gives the Swan its specific idiosyncrasy, and also that special something that differentiates Perth from other cities with rivers.
The Swan is a warm hug holding together areas and people that are alien to each other, the walking friend that says hello to joggers and walkers at sunrise or sunset, the backyard of the many million-dollar houses nested on its shores, the view for contemplative picnickers looking for serenity and hidden places in the heart of the city, the free theatre from where Perthites look at the sky in special days, a friend to the highway, an initiation road for drinkers going to the brewery and students going to the University, and a relaxing cradle for tourists taking a ferry to Fremantle. Most importantly, the Swan is the mirror on which Perth looks at herself day and night when she wants to look prettier than she is - Mirror mirror on the Swan.
The Swan is also a paradise for blue algae, mutant fish, and dead creatures, who dream of those days in which the algae were green and living elsewhere, the only mutants around were the newly-arrived settlers, and the only dead the rocks on their shores. Days of large horizons and wide spaces bygone.
A lyric river, with a heart full of regrets, that mesmerises despite its toxicity.
