Pelicans at Currarong perched high on a pole,
just like keepers without nets protecting their goal .
There are pelicans everywhere at Currarong ,
In the air , on rocks and in their space .
They belong .

It is we who poach their domain and try to fish .
and yet they welcome us there .
They are not selfish .
We trespass on their watery table in boats ,
We stand on rocks and use long poles with lines and floats .

If the roles were reversed and we perched on poles high ,
we would dive down and poke intruders in the eye .
then as pelicans gracefully fly through the sky
and drop objects on the heads of those who pass by .

We dominate as aggressors the space we live .
And that friendly welcome we’re unable to give
We cannot share wealth .
All we ever do is take .
All we do is not for others but for our sake .

Forgotten monuments .
Pelicans on pillars .
On the edge of the shore they are the time fillers .
They live at Currarong aware of our presence .
We are not like pelicans at all on a pole .
We are human kind with a body and a soul .

By Paul McCann