The water ripples into shore,
And slowly comes the tide.
The tide consumes the narrowing beach,
And land and sea collide.

The shrubs below the towering gums,
A rabbit’s hiding place.
But to the man that comes along,
It's just an empty space.

Birds are singing in the trees,
And humans see them there.
The humans come and chop down trees,
For birds, they do not care.

Kangaroos and wallabies,
Hopping 'round for fun.
Stop to eat a little grass,
And do not see the gun.

The gun is shot and hits a roo,
They leave it there to die.
So in the day in open space,
A roo can't safely lie.

The world's great threat right now,
Is that of humankind.
It's no-one’s job but ours,
An answer we must find.

Lloyd McLean (1991)
 

This was written on a school camp. We were asked to find a space by ourselves and write something creatively to do with nature

This poem is part of the Horses and Things collection