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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THESE FOLK OF NATURE, by                    
First Line: One morning I was slumbering in my bed
Last Line: If the birds weren't here to lighten the spot.
Subject(s): Friendship; Kindness; Usefullness


One morning I was slumbering in my bed,
When I was awakened by a song sung overhead.
A sturdy oak branch swaying o'er the eaves,
Held the singers amid its limbs and leaves.

I recognized those friends of mine,
As birds gifted with voices divine;
Never timid to let their voices ring,
Heralding the arrival of dawn in spring.

The song that carried to my ears
Was the sweetest I have heard in all my years.
Such song can burst only from the throats of the free,
And freedom they have, as nature 'tended it to be.

Then suddenly they ceased to sing.
I heard the fluttering of many a wing,
As they left their great and bosom friend,
Who always its branches was glad to lend.

These folk of nature help each other,
Tenderly, like father and mother—
Helping each other so they might live—
Never a thought of the service they give.

As unbelievable as it may seem,
These same giant trees in mighty esteem
Could not live but for these tender things
That flutter about on restless wings.

Of this I became aware one day
As I wandered through the woods in early May.
When my ears caught the sound of measured rapping,
My eyes found the source—a woodpecker tapping.

Securing his meal of insects and such,
He was saving a tree from a slow death clutch—
Nature's protector of trees was doing his part
In saving the life of a sturdier heart.

How kind and useful are these birds—
One cannot express it in mere words.
Yet this world would be a dark blot
If the birds weren't here to lighten the spot.





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