A Poem

A long-time resident who has fished around Albany for fifty years and once sorted the peas at Hunts Canning, (one of those people that I mentioned in 'The Cove',) wrote this poem recently ...

Albany's Special
by Joy Jarratt

There's beaches East, there's beaches West,
The most natural harbour around.
There's sailing, fishing, swimming and surf,
Played out in King George Sound.

My favourite walk is Middleton Beach,
Sometimes we watch the whales play.
Sometimes we swim and walk the dog,
On each beautiful sunny day.

Sometimes the waves are greeny blue,
With a lovely bubbly white crest,
The water is so clear you can see right through,
It's those days that I like best.

They're talking of dredging the harbour,
But locals don't like that idea.
Big business rapes and leaves a place,
While we value what we've got here.

They need the channel to be deeper,
'Cos the ore tankers are clumsy and fat.
But Albany welcomes the Queen Mary,
And you can't do better than that.

So take your mine waste somewhere else,
And leave Albany harbour alone.
Money can't buy what's natural here,
Take your money and sludge and be gone.

Money we know usually wins the day,
And that's why we have this situation.
The question you have to ask yourself:
Will it be progress or devastation?