Alison Cassidy - Saving the Wedgies

They were truly magnificent -
circling high above the pines, without wing-beat
way above the other birds
sort of small and insignificant beneath them.

You could tell they were wedgies
because of the tail spread out like a fan.
The kids liked to pretend they were ours -
our very own wedge-tailed eagles.

We found their nest one day
by accident
round mid-summer
when we were having a rather hot adventure
tramping through the dusty grey bush

You could pick the nest at once
a huge mound of sticks and white poo
around the base of the old stringy-bark
like a gigantic Christmas wreath.

And the nest above at least a meter across
really messy and rough as bags
They had probably been using it for years
(wedgies mate for life)

And then we read in the local paper
that the Council was subdividing
and our wedgie's nest was threatened

A young boy from the Steiner school,
his name was Marcel Cameron,
scawny kid with glasses - bit of a nerd -
decided he would 'save the wedgies'.

He wrote a petition and his mates
helped him collect signatures
He organized a demonstration
and over a hundred people turned up.

Next week Marcel's picture was
on the front page of the 'Warrandyte Diary'
The headline read 'Local lad saves Wedgies.'

Fortunately for Marcel, his father just happened to be on the Council.

Alison Cassidy

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/saving-the-wedgies/