WIDDERSHINS!
What a wondrous word is Widdershins!
It makes it very clear
That it means 'going the wrong way';
Onamatapoea!
It once meant 'anticlockwise'
Or going 'against the sun',
But I associate it with wind
When it's having a bit of fun.
It can widdershin the scudding clouds
Across a blustery sky
It can widdershin the breeze-blown trees
When their branches scrape the sky.
It can widdershin our neat-combed hair
Till it blows across our faces,
And none of our careful coiffured 'bits'
Are staying in their places!
It can whip stray hairs into our eyes!
Then, when we think it's easing,
It can suddenly blow the other way
To prove that it was teasing!
It's good to follow a well-worn path
And to be neat and obey.
But oh the joy of Widdershins
When we get blown away!
*
----------------------------------------------------------------
WHAT A SHAME!
The pretty galah's feeling small!
It's beauty does no good at all!
The thing that has mattered
And made him feel shattered
Is driving him right up the wall!
*
Of all of the bright birds in Australia
And many have brilliant regalia
This poor bird is named
And horribly shamed
By the fact that he represents failure!
*
If I have a slight prang in my car
Or I step in a mess of wet tar
Any Aussie who's near
Will shout out loud and clear
'Well! Aren't you a proper galah!'
*
To be called a galah is not nice
(I've been called one myself once or twice!)
But this parrot, I think,
With its feathers of pink
Should certainly not pay the price!
*
* 'Galah' is pronounced 'gullar' with the emphasis on the second syllable
