all things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small |
all things wise and wonderful, the lord god made them all. |
but what we never mention, though goodness knows it's true |
lo, when he made the goodies, he made the baddies too. |
all things spray and swattable, disasters great and small |
all things paraquatable, the lord god made them all. |
the greenfly on the roses, the maggots in the peas |
manure that fills our noses - he also gave us these |
the fungus on the goosegogs, the club root on the greens |
the slugs that eat the lettuce, and chew the aubergines |
the drought that kills the fuchsia, the frost that nips the buds |
the rain that drowns the seedlings, the blight that hits the spuds |
the midges and mosquitoes, the nettles and the weeds |
the pigeons in the green stuff, the sparrows on the seeds |
the fly that gets the carrots, the wasp that eats the plums |
how black the gardener's outlook, though green may be his thumbs. |
but still we gardeners labour, 'midst vegetables and flowers |
and pray what hits our neighbour's will somehow bypass ours |
all things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small |
all things wise and wonderful - the lord god made them all. |
dalone peel: chronicle of st. barnabas, autumn 1997. |
