Poor Them

Here, in a state whose economy and mindset are bound up in an endless war against nature, private citizens have beheld the paralysis of government agencies and began taking conservation into their own hands.

If all this sounds a little bleak and dramatic, remember that Australia has the worst record of mammal extinction in the world. Since European settlement twenty seven species have disapeared entirely and 1500 birds, reptiles, plants, amphibians and mammals are currently vulnerable or endangered. marsupials, the creatures unique to the continent, are in perilous decline and many of the smaller species are gone for good.

Tim Winton
Silent Country: Travels through a Recovering Landscape

Fireflies

I'd like to make myself believe
That planet Earth turns slowly.
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay
Awake when I'm asleep
Cos everything is never as it seems.

Leave my door open just a crack
Cos i feel like such an insomniac
Why do i tire of counting sheep
When im far too tired to fall asleep

I'd like to make myself believe
That planet Earth turns slowly.
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay
Awake when I'm asleep
Because my dreams are bursting at the seams


-Owl City, Fireflies

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All is dark but for the greenish glow
Of the bedside clock radio
It's 3a.m. - here they come again
Just like they've done before
First there's one and then a couple more
Like little birds perching on a wire
And soon there's a gathering
A crooning, restless choir
Of thoughts in the middle of the night

...

Paul Kelly