The Jackdaws Are Calling

The jackdaws are calling from out of the woodland They lurk in the branches there hidden from sight, While scanning the ground where the food now is scattered Yet covered they rest in the shade of the night, They swoop in a flash and then gone in a moment With stealth and with cunning pass almost unseen, Then again to the treetops to dwell in the shadows To peer to the ground through the leaves that are green. They stare at the scrub and the bushes beneath them Like thieves of the darkness now ready to steal, Their cloaks are of black with their grey hoods concealing Their image and features no shame do they feel, They swoop once again in the safety of numbers And into the open they land on the floor, In silence they stalk and then gather like reapers The scraps in their beaks as they head off once more. To return to the peace and the shade of the woodland With rustle of branches to which they now cling, They then fly away in the skies far above me Then soar to the clouds as they sail on the wing, They travel like gypsies away on their journey Not seeming to settle or finding a home, From pillar to post they go constantly searching As over the land and the country they roam.