Lines On Seeing A Lyrebird Poem by Francis Duggan

We walked up through Sherbrooke forest one sunday evening in middle Spring
On the ninth day of October listening to wild songbirds sing
I was with a lovely lady one whom I consider brave
Nature lover Janice Trencher from the high hills of Belgrave

In the twilight of the evening rain fell from a sunless sky
And behind clouds the sun was hiding day now had the darkening eye
But the little birds were singing carolling their songs of joy
For their audience two humans Janice E Trencher and I.

We had come in search of lyrebird, lyrebird we had come to see
Lyrebird quite near to extinction all ornithologists agree,
Lyrebird like the cool damp evenings well informed sources say
Maybe we might see a lyrebird this might be our lucky day.

Saw pheasant sized type bird fly upward to low branch of gum tree
That, that there is a lyrebird Janice whispered unto me
And on much closer inspection Janice proved so very right
'Twas a wild born superb lyrebird felt my pulses race with delight.

It would have been much better had the evening been more bright
As we did not have good view of him due to the fading light
Then he flew off from the gum tree with slow and awkard flight
To not too distant pine tree for to shelter for the night.

I have a dream a good dream that in some future day
That I will watch male lyrebird in his courtship display
But is that asking too much? how lucky can one be
A male lyrebird at his courtship dance few humans ever see.

In Belgrave's Sherbrooke forest beneath a darkening sky
We saw rare superb lyrebird J.E.Trencher and I
On an evening in October made damp by drizzling rain
A memory to cherish and a memory to retain.