The Magpie

The Magpie drew near
I too, was alone
And felt its sorrow
Right through to the bone

The Magpie was coloured
Black, and white
Like snow on a dark rock
In the dead of the night

No birdsong came from its beak
Twas like a mute swan
I was struck dumb, unable to speak
My words were gone, long gone

The Magpie, in silence
Fluttered across an old bowling green
Sweeping low, over the fresh cut meadow
Bees, or butterflies, no longer in residence. or seen

Long ago, in days of yore
Witches oft rode on the Magpies back, far-flung
Or had risen from the underworld
Or that the devils blood, lay upon their tongues

But now, no more than a nursery rhyme
A song to be sung
Depending on the numbers of Magpies
Whether fortune, would be right, or wrong

And as i watch this sole Magpie
Fly away, into the dark horizons of the 'morrow
I had sensed its loneliness
And also its intense sorrow

by Jemia