All Things Bright and Beautiful
25 June 2017
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 gardeners know it’s true
Is 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 goose-gogs, the club root on the greens,
The slugs that eat the lettuce and chew the aubergines
The drought that kills the fuchsias, the frost that nips the buds
The rain that drowns the seedlings, the blight that hits the spuds
The midges and mosquitos, 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 gardeners outlook, though green may be his thumbs
But still we gardeners labour, midst vegetables and flowers
And pray what hits our neighbours, will somehow bypass ours
All things bright and beautiful ..........................................