The elms stand naked their brown leaves on the ground <br />On the gravel path by the winds scattered around <br />The overnight frost has left the park looking gray <br />Just after daybreak on a cold Winter's day. <br /> <br />The magpie on the blackwood tree seems brave to sing <br />He sings all year round though more often in Spring <br />But his voice sounds melodious at all times of year <br />And on a frosty morning so pleasant to hear. <br /> <br />The sparrows in the parkland are chirping away <br />In all sorts of weather they chirp through the day <br />Weavers classified as songbirds though that seems a bit wrong <br />Since sparrows as such they do not have a song. <br /> <br />A cold and frosty morning around zero degrees <br />The currawongs calling on the tall gum trees <br />Some say they sing their loudest prior to and during rain <br />And their currawong notes they repeat over and again. <br /> <br />A cold Winter's morning the park gray to white <br />Will green in the sun from the frost overnight <br />And the song of the magpie one cannot mistake <br />He sings on the blackwood just after daybreak.<br /><br />Francis Duggan<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-cold-winter-s-morning/
