Up through the scrub on a winding trail
At the dawn of a sun kissed day
I strained for the sight of the black snake tail
Nearly walked on it yesterday.
For ‘twas there on the trail I’d recoiled in shock
When the stick stood up in haste,
To retreat with speed ‘neath a nearby rock
As I ran with no time to waste.
As I topped the rise in an open space
I paused while my heart pumped fast,
‘Twas a panorama of glorious grace
I began to relax at last.
In the meadow there on this hillside green
Were kangaroos in their group
And they paused and sniffed, taking in the scene
As the head ‘roo called his troop.
For this was intrusion of their space
And my presence instilled fear,
They’d fled from development in their place,
A home they’d treasured dear.
The head ‘roo stretched to his six-foot height
And he eyed with a steely glare,
Ready he was for potential fight
Should this hated-human dare.
So, I turned with regret from the lovely scene
And retraced my steps on track
From the ‘roo’s viewpoint developments mean
Removal with no turning back.
Then vacation time on the following year
I returned to this favoured place.
But to my surprise, and resulting tear,
‘Twas a new development base.
The trail was gone, and high on the hill
Earth movers ploughed everything bare.
And I understood that it took no skill
Spoiling nature in our care.
“© Copyright Ian Grice,
ianscyberspace 2018 All rights reserved”
NB, The above image is copyrighted to en.wikipedia.org
ianscyberspace 
Oh, I though you wrote. Either way it was a fun read. Had to reread it twice to really understand it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes I write and compose poems. It is a relaxing exercise for me. 🙂
LikeLike
Poignant and so very evocative Ian. It’s time for all of us to redefine ‘development’.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We are destroying the planet but not willing to sacrifice our lifestyle in order to fix the problem. I fear for our grandchildren and the world we bequeath to them.
LikeLike
Yes, I remember that Australia has many snakes. And as Australia, we took are losing our nature spots to developers.
On Wed, Jun 20, 2018 at 5:12 PM, ianscyberspace wrote:
> ianscyberspace posted: ” Up through the scrub on a winding trail At the > dawn of a sun kissed day I strained for the sight of the black snake tail > Nearly walked on it yesterday. For ‘twas there on the trail I’d recoiled > in shock When the stick stood up in ha” >
LikeLiked by 1 person
Singapore has managed to develop while caring for the environment. It’s a great place to work and live.
LikeLike
Moving poem, Ian, and a bit heartbreaking, too. Hope you enjoy your holiday!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am, thank you. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Poor kangaroos losing their space. These amazing animals so fascinate me…I would love to see them in real life. Great poem sweet Ian that spoke volumes. Hugs
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, we used to have a lot of them at our back fence when we first moved north to retirement but within a few years we were in the middle of a brand new suburb and the rolling fields replaced with a concrete jungle without our friendly animal visitors.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is sad…I feel so sorry for the animals that are being forced out of their natural habitats.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Enjoy your holiday! I think that I’ve mentioned before how much I admire the British who, even with thier dense population, have managed to retained some beautiful countryside. People complain about the strict planning laws but i admire what they have achieve.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I believe there should be regulations to see we don’t go overboard with development. I like the way Singapore handles the environment.
LikeLike
Urban development. sounds so professional and yet can be so destructive. This poem spoke volumes of the folly of robbing the wild life from its own home. Well written. enjoy your break.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I guess an increasing population needs to have more places to live. What I quarrel with is taking prime agricultural land and absorbing it into a city. We are going to have to learn to live in high rise buildings or develop on land not suitable for agriculture. We certainly do not need to be destroying more forests and need to begin reafforestation.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Man’s relentless drive forward! Good poem. Hugs for you, Ian and I hope you both have a lovely holiday. Xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Jane. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
A poignant poem and an all too familiar occurence, I’m afraid.
In Singapore, almost every single spot of my childhood, had been bulldozed, paved over or built over in the name of progress. They tear down buildings and schools no more than 30 years old.
And the clowns do not even retain the old street names – except for the touristy spots. Instead of exotic multi-cultural street names of yore, we now have automaton street names such as “Avenue 1 – Avenue 2 … Avenue 64….
Sigh!
Anyway, enjoy your holiday break, Ian – and all good wishes,
Eric
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for reading, and the good wishes Eric.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This will be my last post for a month as I’ll be taking a holiday. Looking forward to returning to the blogging world in mid to late July.
LikeLike