A tiny and rich-coloured bird,
prized the world over,
caged in darkened corners
of centrally heated rooms.
But in freedom,
they bask in the heat of tropical Australia,
winging over shimmering open woodlands
hiding on stony hills,
feeding on dense seeding grasses
in small multi-coloured flocks,
Sunbathing, enjoying the heat of the day,
So far from the twilight of European rooms.
Listen for its gently sibulant singing -
"Si-i-i-it", so quietly, in the blaze of a tropical day.
The tiny birds gather, feeding and bathing
in the gold shimmering of late afternoon,
sometimes even sharing a rough hollow
a crude scraping of a nest for raising their brood...
in freedom?
But why so few?
Flying across immense sweeps of land and sky...
A mysterious illness?
Less burning off of the bushland?..
old Aboriginal habits have died hard,
and now cattle eat the long tough grasses.
Or something more sinister? Popularity equates trapping,
killing with kindness.
Maybe all of these reasons, maybe none. Who knows
why this beautiful bird is still disappearing?
Acrylic on watercolour paper. 11inx15in (approx).
Copyright (c) Helen Duley 2002