When The Salmon Swim Upstream Poem by Francis Duggan

No bird sings in the frosty dawn
When the salmon swim upstream to spawn
And the frosted fields are looking gray
Though expect that for November some say.

Yesterday the rain it bucketed down
And through the old fields by the Town
The river bank high it did flow
And so chilly the north winds did blow.

The rooks are cawing on the bare trees
And there is a cold chill in the breeze
And in the bare field the hungry cattle are bellowing for hay
On a very typical November day.

The migrant redwings chirping on the bare hedgerow
They've come south ahead of the snow
They will fly back north in the Spring
To raise their broods and whistle and sing.

To keep warm the mountain hare racing around
Too nimble for any greyhound
In his furry coat of lightish fawn
When the salmon swim upstream to spawn.