No reason for Rue for a 'Roo
©Noël Sweeney
Such a stunning sight on shifting sand©
The kangaroos have roamed this land
For 20 million years as nature planned
Our Coat of Arms symbol since 1773
Depicts the kangaroo in all its majesty
No reason nor rhyme for a ruse
Australia is a country fit for animals
A true image of how we view kangaroos
Australia's image as a sanctuary for 'roos
Yet now is not time for phoney pith
Time to dispense with history's myth
For who were once valued as iconic
Now smell with a stale death's tonic
As a hop skip and jump before being dumped
Beneath the bullets as a sawn-off is pumped
A mountain of bodies bulge as a badge for their ruin
From politicians failing to follow the Declaration of Yuin
The Australian principles move to echo the Saturnalia
So the Joey learned as far as the government is concerned
From their youth for them ruth has no truth in their history
A fake Coat of Arms as an emblem of their endless misery
Our Spring will mak e a soulless heart sing
By a shotgun kiss for a bird on the wing
So be sure pay a visit to old Oz because
After escaping from the crowded beach
You will find a cove beyond the reach
Of most creatures except those whose
Low siren call is a death-knell screech
When their bounce and running just ends
The ones with no purpose and no friends
A natural medicine to cure every disease
Doing whatever you want when you please
Bring the 'roo and Joey down to their knees
No cause for any taboo
No question from anyone
No doubt about what is true
No reason for rue for a 'roo
Remember killing a kangaroo is indeed a good deed
Remember killing a kangaroo is the right thing to do
In black summer it is better than a drummer
A-pounding sound of a tow-bar on a brain
As a 'roo dies to the rhythm of their pain
Out of the busy city an itchy bug bit me
A frightened Joey in a mother's furry pouch
Lazy looking and as purposeless as a slouch
A no gloved specimen of a pugilist crew
You can find the ocean wave blue-on-blue
You can swim and seek a shark or two
You can even find the sun and some sex
Then when you decide what to do next
There is simply nothing you can substitute
For finding someone both helpless and mute
Waiting for someone to batter her or to shoot
Cutting down a creature in mid-motion is cute
No reason for rue for a 'roo
Remember killing a kangaroo is indeed a good deed
Remember killing a kangaroo is the right thing to do
Autumn it is the perfect camouflage season
Wander into the bush with a single reason
Seeing someone lurking there idling their time
With a licence to kill catch them in their prime
All you need is a warped mind and a weapon
No cause for a protest or some kind of sermon
You can be a jackboot Klansman with a jackknife
Then use your force and strength to take their life
That is the way it was always meant to be
A death fast and loose is their only destiny
They all fall heavy when their time has come
A faded scream as their body becomes numb
When the shooter's eyes light with excitement
An animal abuser without fault in his judgement
Thanking the fire the floods and the government
No reason for rue for a 'roo
Remember killing a kangaroo is indeed a good deed
Remember killing a kangaroo is the right thing to do
In the winter you can choose to splinter
The 'roos being born to be abused and used
As a pair of gloves or de luxe running shoes
While old-time Oz sprung from criminals
We can forge our future we know is liminal
By killing the lowest of the low the animals
Especially as each startled fur-lined hopper
In turn turns and becomes a scared cropper
You might take down two with a one bullet
A lucky strike to produce an orphan pauper
We decide which of the pests we will abort
'Roos captured in our own kangaroo court
Caught in our cross-fire devoid of a Voice
In law and life killing them is our choice
Willing silent victims of pure prejudice
No reason for rue for a 'roo
Remember killing a kangaroo is indeed a good deed
Remember killing a kangaroo is the right thing to do
Our criminal past is the one that was
Our present is a killing fun just because
Our future is formed and fixed on nature
Our rivers gently flow and time stands still
Our Joey breathes so she's yours to kill
Our history and inheritance is written in sand
Our Kangaroo Code kills them as we planned
Our sanctioned slaughter has been lodged
All the kangaroos have to do to live is dodge
The bullets and knives that steal their lives
As the mob parading as our government
Attack the mobs so their time is all spent
When the young-at-foot are chased off the road
Forced to find a new abode of a land-fill coffin
Killed by us kingpins for their body and skins
Our national treasure now used for our pleasure
A hunter and a punter wins by the Kangaroo Code
Killing without conscience is our marketing mode
Caged by fences and fires and floods
While they spill and lose their lifeblood
A one-way love-hate story of greed and glory
Our perpetual slaughter of speciesist prejudice
Written in water and borne of our human bias
Each Joey and wallaroo have no legal value
A kangaroo killing is our political hullabaloo
So when we ask the perennial Australian question
Do the kangaroos ever have 'A Fair Go'?
We already know the repeating resounding answer:
No No No!
For more about Noel including is work and latest book visit: https://animalsadvocate.co.uk/
