No Egrets

All these years I've driven in the country,
You know I've always wondered how;
When you'd see a field full of cattle,
There was always one egret... for every cow.

And I wondered... how they did it,
How they spread themselves out so precisely;
Without squabbles or altercations,
I mean they seem to get on quite nicely.

Then the other day I was driving home,
.................... I was quietly reminiscing;
When something seemed strange in the paddock,
And all the egrets... were missing.

I was surprised and mystified too,
At this unexpected situation;
And I tried to recall if I'd read any facts,
About egret mass migration.

Then over a hill and round a bend,
And the dam came into sight;
It looked like the dam just always looked,
But its banks were... egret white.

It was an egret stop-work meeting,
And who knows what might have sparked it;
Maybe they'd brought in a few new cows,
Or maybe old daisy had carked it.

But I tell you they know what they're doing,
Even though to us it might sound absurd;
'Cos next day they were back in the paddock,
And there was one cow there... for every bird.

Copyright; Ian Mackay - October 1992