A Wintery Night Poem by Francis Duggan

The tiny frogs sing in the pond and the drain
And out there on the hill in the wind and the rain
The wild fox is barking so distinctive it's cry
And the coldness of Winter is in the dark sky.

The boobook owl calls one who hides from daylight
Out hunting for prey on this Wintery night
And the screech of the barn owl one cannot mistake
'Twill return to it's tree cavity before daybreak.

The small ring tail possums call out on the trees
In temperatures close to the minus degrees
And in the darkened paddock somewhere very near
The soft whistle of the wombat is pleasant to hear.

A wintery night in the cold and the dark
The spur winged plovers are calling in the park
For them it is their breeding time of the year
You see them by day and at night them you hear.

The call of the frogmouth seems like a soft sigh
And a wary watchdog barks in a yard nearby
And in the dark sky just a few stars in sight
And the air does seem cold on a wintery night.