The first in over sixty years
The whooping cranes are living wild
Now one young pair has laid an egg
And, too, with luck, will raise their child
They near Kissimmee were released
Beating the odds, survived to breed
A ray of hope they might increase
And ***** the armor of human greed
But cranes need water as do we
As still we pump the wetlands dry
Our chains of lakes sprout fat resorts
The river of grass condemned to die
Yet dare we dream we might reverse
This harsh inflicted damage done
Still apathy is our nation's curse
Which battles none has ever won
Today I cheer the whooping cranes
Who still have hope that they might see
Upon some far and distant day
Their offspring's offspring flying free
Originally written on 13Apr99, following an article I read about the first breeding pairs of whooping cranes released in Kissimmee, Florida, near Orlando, of which one pair was successfully (at the time of the article) raising a clutch of hatchlings.
We saw occasional endangered sandhill cranes, where I lived in Pinellas County, where the entire county is a designated bird sanctuary, along with literally dozens of other rare and threatened bird species from wood storks and roseate spoonbills to bald eagles and ospreys.
