The Dunnocks Nest

A memory from the past I still recall In the box hedge by the old garden wall I saw two male dunnocks and a hen Fly out of hedge and then with food fly in. I heard their little nestlings for food cry And I with the curiosity of a boy Peered in the hedge a moss built cup shaped nest I see With pink skinned nestlings in it I counted three. To the ways of Nature I was young and green And I marvelled at the wonder I had seen Three blind and pink skinned nestlings the shy dunnock's brood Thought I too was a carer with some food. With their tiny mouths wide open for food they did plead And when I did not satisfy their greed They slumped back in their nest as in a heap And within a few minutes were asleep. It must have been close to fifty years ago Yet of Nature little I still seem to know But such a precious memory bound to stay With me until the reaper has his way.