Under the old mango tree
The goatherd is a young lady
Holding cane with her right
The sun is shining very bright
Herds of goats, she got plenty
Eating grasses, wild and free
Grasses young, grasses old
To the goats, they are gold
June 3, 2023
[ to the tune of The Lonely Goatherd ]
High on a hill sat a lonely goat turd;
He was by himself ‘cuz the goat was through.
Waiting to be eaten by a gross bird
And recycled, turd times two!
Who comes along, but a fair dung beetle,
On sturdy legs that were big and strong.
He called to her, yes, he softly wheedled,
“Baby, won’t you dance along?”
Then they danced through the meadow.
Then they rolled down the hill.
He fancied he was her beau
Man, this was such a thrill!
She took him back to her hidey-hidey,
Shaping up to be a dream come true!
When she trimmed him down ‘cuz he was too widey,
finally, he thought to think it through.
Now he’s the meal of a fair dung beetle;
Kids came home and had a snack or two.
And he’s kinda wishing he’d been eaten by that eagle;
At least with one bite it would be through!
The goatherd sat beneath the bo tree
On his flute playing his favourite melody
His loneliness no one could tell
His music only the meadows could spell
Along came a fair maiden her water jug to fill
She looked at him coyly her bright eyes bearing a twinkle
Red and orange hues of her skirt danced to the breeze
As she moved gracefully to the water stream
Her anklets joined in the musical symphony
Goatherd’s heart began racing along a fiery trail
His music filling the meadows with a new symphony
I'm praising the Lord, will you come and join me,
Praising His name all through the day.
I'm praising the Lord, will you come and join me,
And we will be blessed along the way.
Singing praise to Him just makes me happy,
I know that my prayers He will fulfill.
He is my Father and He loves me,
So I shall always do His will.
Praising the name of the One who loves me,
Jesus, He came to set me free,
I was a sinner on life's highway,
He was the One who showed the way.
Let your praise reach up to heaven,
There it will please the Heavenly Host.
Honest prayer is sure to please Them,
Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
© Dave Timperley 2012
Sung to the tune of High on a hill stood a lonely goatherd or the Yodel song from The Sound of music.
.
For several years, I've been a raftsman every summer
Ferrying herds and noisy folks across this gray river
Who shout, argue and fight about this body of water
The goat-like shepherd bleats out loud, wise-cracking puns
Says: "You can never cross the same river more than once
It changes every moment, every swirl, every flow
May look the same but its waters come, its currents go
You float or swim in it, but then whatever you do
This river's not the one .. that you crossed awhile ago!"
The sheep-like goatherd retorts in a long, screaming leap
Says: " That's a shallow view, I've got something really deep
If the river is the water that drenches your knees
A dozen rivers can swish by you in just a sneeze
Even when you pause for just a short minute or two
You're not the one crossing .. the rivers are crossing you!"
As long as their banter won't make my raft keel over
And they pay their fare like any decent passenger
No goatherd, no shepherd will I push into the river!
.
For several years, I've been a raftsman every summer,
ferrying herds and noisy folks across this gray river
who shout and argue about this body of water.
The goat-like shepherd bleats out loud wisecracking puns;
says "You can never cross same river more than once;
it changes every moment, every swirl, every flow;
may look the same, but its waters come, its currents go;
you float or swim in it, but then whatever you do,
this river's not the one that you crossed a while ago!"
The sheep-like goatherd retorts in a long, screaming leap;
snorts, "That's a shallow view, I've got something really deep;
if the river is the water that drenches your knees,
a dozen rivers can swish by you in just a sneeze;
even when you pause for just a short minute or two,
you're not the one crossing, the rivers are crossing you!"
As long as their banter won't make my raft keel over
and they pay their fare like any decent passenger,
no goatherd or shepherd gets thrown into the river!
Tuesday Lobsang Rampa made
tea so his Third Eye could open
to see dreams fortifying in aspiring hearts
as they reach for the next beat in their comings and goings
Socrates played the lyre by
banging on the strings while
humming and hawing about the trouble of
always stressing and straining against the chains
though he loved Phaedrus in the Symposium
it was Xanthippe that made him a muse
Hermann Hesse spoke in tongues
while translating the synapses of a goatherd
who arranged new ideas like glass beads
which almost always came undone
except when Siddartha played the lute
in exchange for his crooked staff
Nietzsche saw the cunning linguist
would never solve the puzzle of the dead body
which Zarathustra carried to his bed like a wolf
where he lay dying of syphilis wrapped
in the wool of many sleeping sheep
Sibelius finally gave in to the seduction of despair
when for many restless nights he looked up at the
stars in the same Elysian fields where
the goatherd lay asleep
dreaming
For several years I've been a raftsman every summer,
ferrying herds and noisy folks across this gray river
who shout and argue about this body of water.
The goat-like shepherd bleats out loud wisecracking puns
that you can never cross the river more than once,
it changes every moment, every swirl and flow,
it may look the same, but its waters come and go,
you float or swim in it, but whatever you do,
this river's not the one you crossed a while ago !
The sheep-like goatherd retorts in a screaming leap,
says that's a shallow view, he's got something deep,
if river is the water that drenches your knees,
a hundred rivers can swish by you in a sneeze
even when you pause for just a minute or two,
you're not the one crossing, rivers are crossing you !
As long as their banter won't make my raft keel over,
and they pay their fare like any decent passenger,
I shall throw neither goat nor sheep into the river.
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