Through bushes and briars
I did swiftly cut my way
Searching for that thieving bird
And I would make him pay

But nowhere could that bird be found
And nowhere was my child
And night came on, so home I went
Crying all the while

Life went on day by day
And never a day that passed
Was free from thoughts and wonderings
Of the young one had lost

Years went by and I grew old
Childless I remained
The sound of birdsong, once so dear
Was now my greatest pain

Until one day the wind did change
And the air was chill no more
I heard the sound of heavy wings
And a girl stood at my door

My daughter has returned to me
She sings and talks in rhymes
She tells me stories of the skies
And of her magpie times

So grieve not for what you’ve lost
It may return again
Delight in what’s all around you
For that will conquer pain

And do not waste a single day
In grief for what’s not lost
Life’s too short to waste like this
Too late you’ll learn the cost