Yellow Billed Spoonbill

By the lake shore in the shallows where the waters are still
He walks in water to his knees the white bird with yellow legs and long yellow spoon like bill
With his bill in the water as he walk moving from side to side
His prey water insects, crustaceans and tiny fish in the water weed hide.

He and his partner build their nest on a high branch of a tree
On her nest of sticks she lays four white eggs though sometimes two or three
They both take care of their young a bird devoted to fatherhood as well as to his mate
Food from their stomachs to their nestlings they do regurgitate.

On river rapids never seen the still waters they need
Birds of the inland lakes and dams in the shallows they feed
Of humans 'twould be fair to say they have a healthy fear
To a human standing on the shore they never venture near.

Yellow billed or yellow legged spoonbill are names they are known by
On the lake I see one yesterday he did seem rather shy
With his long yellow bill moving from side to side in the shallows he shuffled up and down
The shyest of the water birds in the big park by the town.

What Goes Around Comes Around

What goes around comes around that seems so true
For we only receive the karma we are due
And if to help out others you go out of your way
Good karma will be your's to enjoy one day.

But if you are one who likes to live by deceit
And others for your own gain you feel happy to cheat
And whether you do or you do not on karma believe
It will not be good karma that you will receive.

What goes around comes around the wise always say
You will receive the karma for which you did pay
On good or bad karma you do have a choice
Since karma like most things on it has a price.

What goes around comes around I say that again
If you do wrong to others bad karma's your gain
The students of karma will have you to know
That in karma we only receive what we sow.

A Good Sport

His best ever finish is a seventeenth place
And 'tis likely now he'll never win any race
He goes by the nickname of 'the unplaced athlete'
But the main thing about him is that he does compete

As without his type others they could not run for gold
And stories of their greatness could not be written or told
And though for him the bonfires they never will blaze
He should be remembered and we should sing his praise.

He should be remembered for trying his best
And though always found wanting when put to the test
Great courage of him we should not deny
And credit him for giving it his best try

And credit him if only for taking part
A sportsman in ways and a sportsman at heart
He is always out jogging in rain, hail or sun
And every race to him is just a fun run.

He will never be one sports writers will recall
Though that doesn't bother him one bit at all
His next run the ten mile road race on Sunday
And of him 'a good sport' seems a fair thing to say.

The Girls Of My Young Years

The girls of my young years where are they today?
Perhaps some from the Hometown they live far away
And are in their late fifties or early sixties maybe
And perhaps any of them I will never more see.

Some of them in the home Parish they choose for to stay
And their grandchildren are local school-goers today
And do they use hair dyes for to cover their gray?
So few choose to age in the natural way.

The girls of my young years I've not seen for years
No doubt they have enjoyed laughter and they have shed tears
That falling in and out of love it can bring
Of their youthful beauty I gladly will sing.

The girls of my young years are now getting old
I recall them when they were lovely to behold
And young in my memory they will remain
And I see them when I am on memory lane.

Hate And Dislike

Hate and dislike are not the same thing between them the difference is great
We well may not like everybody but our dislike should not give way to hate
For hatred leads people to bad crimes since hatred as a feeling is very intense
The feeling of hatred is noxious and is poison to common sense.

Some commit murder due to hatred and than murder there is no worse a crime
Their hatred has landed them in prison for to serve a lengthy span of jail time
Their life it is ruined forever and darkness envelopes their soul
Suppose that is what's bound to happen when hatred is out of control.

Hate and dislike are two different creatures and though dislike to hatred can grow
Hate in it has got far more venom those who hate mercy will not show
Whilst those who dislike you may not harm you at least not in a physical way
And if you asked me to choose between them I would choose dislike any day.

For Every

For every bird in the wood there is a final Spring
And a last nest to build and a last song to sing
And in the same wood in the Spring of next year
The very same songs from their offsprings we'll hear.

The rabbit she does not have a long life span
She lives in fear of predators and in fear of man
But despite diseases her species will live on
And her young will be breeding when the life from her has gone.

At the top of the food chain human beings multiply
Our success as a species not many would deny
Humans have walked on the Moon and been in Outer Space
No challenge seems too daunting for the human race.

Some live to be old though in time brief the life stay
And we all have to die for others to make way
And the years roll on by and time ticks on fast
And each day we live is one day nearer to our last.

The Countryside Here

The Countryside here of few trees open rugged and brown
Is not like the high Wooded Countryside near Belgrave Town
Where I lived up to going on eight years ago
In the dry stony country few tall trees do grow.

So many different sorts of Landscapes in this Southern Land
All you who have not been here you would not understand
The scenery it seems to change from Shire to Shire
And the artists and writers it never fails to inspire.

For to sketch and write of it in poetry and prose
Though what's beautiful to one to another is not that's life I suppose
Some like the dry Inland country some like the lands by the sea
And some like the high woods of the mountain ash tree.

So much Natural beauty for awe to inspire
And the scenery it keeps changing from Shire to Shire
And such great natural beauty everywhere to see
In this Southern Land of varied scenery.