Song of the Cuckoo

Listen to the cuckoo coming after the doves,
Mocking their cooing, mocking their cooing
With its strange double note.

Listen to the cuckoo mocking the cooing doves
While the owl turns her head
And the hawk falls on its prey
And the gull sails above the ash.

The cuckoo is a clown
That sings of love
Gone foul.

Cuckoo, cuckoo.
And the owl
Turns her head,
And the doves fly away,
But the cuckoo has found
A place to stay.

No other birds sing quite the same;
No other birds claim,
Cuckoo, cuckoo.
Who?
Says the owl.
Cuckoo. Cuckoo.


Originally published in A Matter of Mind, Foothills Publishing, 2004.
© copyright 2004, 2009 the Grandpa at The Word Mechanic Blog.
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