Poetry Sunday: The Magpies

A hat tip to  my New Zealand blogging friend, Carole, for this week's poem. It is by a New Zealand poet, Denis Glover, of whom, I confess, I had not heard. Glover died on August 9, 1980, so it's a good time to feature one of his poems and this one, it seems, is one of his most famous. It references a situation which will be all too familiar to many people in these difficult economic times, post the burst housing bubble. 

The Magpies

by Denis Glover

When Tom and Elizabeth took the farm
The bracken made their bed
and Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle
The magpies said

Tom's hand was strong to the plough
and Elizabeth's lips were red
and Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle
The magpies said

Year in year out they worked
while the pines grew overhead
and Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle
The magpies said

But all the beautiful crops soon went
to the mortgage man instead
and Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle
The magpies said

Elizabeth is dead now (it's long ago)
Old Tom's gone light in the head
and Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle
The magpies said

The farm's still there. Mortgage corporations
couldn't give it away
and Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle
The magpies say.

Black-billed Magpies in Rocky Mountain National Park in October.

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