Tragedy at Sandon

Sandon.

A majestic coastline

With a sandy beach

Gently caressed

By waves of white and blue.

Sandon.

A precious home

For shorebirds.

A coastal feeding,

Nestling, roosting treasure.

Sandon.

A lifeline,

A chance to avoid extinction

For an endangered fellow creature,

The pied oyster catcher.

But,

Sandon, October 7.

Its sandy beach

Becomes a "highway"

An intruding 4WD.

Its driver

Indifferent and cruel

Sees an oyster catcher

And deliberately swerves

To hit it.

The 4WD continues on,

No thought of stopping

While the oyster catcher

Lies injued, in agony,

A wing badly broken.

To the stricken bird

NPWS carers come.

They strive to save it,

They do their utmost

But all in vain - the oyster catcher dies.

Our Earth community,

Its future is in the balance.

All life is important -

A supreme message - 

But, for some people ignored.

Stan Mussared

Clarence Valley Conservation Coalition

Sourced from CVCC's Voices from the Earth,
published in The Daily Examiner, 21/11/11