Ravishingly Black

They could be heard across valleys with their screeching echo Flailing above tree height they’d flock in their thousands - the Black Cockatoo Like nature’s eclipse, they would descend in clouds; all great gangling wings Flapping madly at each other, swaying this way and the other A perch full of hysterics - oh ravishingly black Black raucous baffling broils of beak n feathers and Snapped off sticks and nuts that crack and pop from Ancient giants tall All crowded in crowns hanging and swinging and larking about A jest from the nest, others cuddling n kissing Fanning tail feathers – pretty But now they fall, their numbers appal Thrown out of their homes, death by starvation, another species lost But who gives a toss… A red tail feather once so common on the forest track As we yearn for their call, the lone screeching echo That haunts the valley floor We no longer hear the vanquished It’s only when they’ve vanished Will we truly pray for these ebony eccentrics? Of the Australian bush 28 August 2014