Of Nature's First Lessons

I've heard the blue tits young chirp in the hollow log
And I've heard the curlew pipe o'er Shannaknock bog
And the bluebells, snowdrops and primroses I've seen
In Spring blooming on the ditch of the pebbly bohreen.

The black and white magpie in the gray dawn of the day
Chatters in the grove by the hill far away
Where I learned my first lessons from Nature many decades ago
In the place of the rook, the jackdaw and gray crow.

Where my love for Nature did begin to grow
The dark brown river bird dipper with breast as white as snow
On a rock midst the rapids where the babbling waters did flow
By the scratchy tones of his song him I got to know.

Since then many Seasons have come and have gone
And the clock on my life it keeps ticking on
But of Nature's first lessons the memories remain
And the birds in the wood in my thoughts sing again.