The Waterhen's Wild Cry

To think that the past is forever past a bigger fool am I
For it's followed me across the world the waterhen's wild cry
The memories still fresh with me remain of when I was a boy
The shrill call of the water bird rang in the pond nearby

Her four chicks swam in the brackish pond, red faced and dark and small
And from a clump of water reeds the anxious mum did call
She called on them to join her and her they did obey
And quiet and safe from watcher's eyes they hid themselves away.

In a clear sky the sun shone bright it was a pleasant day
And finches sung and hawthorns wore her blossoms of the May
And the waterhen called to her young to warn of danger near
A lesson in survival in the things they ought to fear.

The past forever is the past at least so some believe
But if you feel that way then you like I your own self you deceive
It's followed me across the World the waterhen's wild cry
And it's been more than fifty years since I was a schoolboy.