Poem – Birdsong

Birdsong

 

I’d rather be, somewhere in the country 

Listening to bird song, all day long

 

But I can’t get away 

From the sound of road noise 

There seems to be no choice 

Wherever I go

 

And small planes that sound like old tractors 

That fly anywhere 

Without a care 

For the disturbance they bring 

 

So, I want to be, somewhere in the country 

Listening to bird song, all day long 

 

But for the low flying jet planes 

That hang in the sky

As they rumble on by 

Masking the bird’s calls 

 

And the farming machines

Destroying bucolic scenes 

And bird’s mellifluous joy

 

So, I need to be, somewhere in the country 

Listening to bird song, all day long

 

Tom Broughton, August 2021