A Cold Day In Early Winter Poem by Francis Duggan

A cold day in early Winter ten weeks from the Spring
The silvery billed magpie the only bird who bothers to sing
But he will sing better as Spring days draw near
In late Winter at night him one often does hear,
A cold day in early Winter of seven degrees
And there is a chill in the late evening breeze
But the house sparrows are bickering in the hedgerow
You will hear them chirping rain, hail or snow
And down in the park one can hear the pee wee
And by voice none more recognizable than he
Up in Central New South Wales the Hunter river towards the sea raging down
Through the Hunter Valley flooding many a town
The people living up there seem far worse off than people living here
Where the weather is not so bad for the time of the year.