A July Night Poem by Francis Duggan

The frogs in the pond singing in the moonlight
As the rain drizzles down on a wintery night
And the cry of a fox in the paddock nearby
On the second last evening of the southern July
In the depths of the Winter of the southern year
The sound of nocturnal wildlife in the countryside one does hear
Mopoke mopoke the hunting boobook owl cry
It's voice does reecho across the night sky
Thirty four nights from the birth of the calendar Spring
And the silver billed magpies in the moonlight does sing
Their familiar flute like warbling so pleasant to hear
On a wet and cold night even for the time of year
The breeding frogs singing in every pond and drain
On this wintery night in the wind and the rain.