Let me tell you all a story
With a moral, old but true
It happened on a cocky farm
On the plain west of Marnoo
The animals were starving
As hungry as could be
Except for this huge fat Hereford bull
Lord of the farm was he
His coat was sleek and shiny
His feed bin always full
The other animals gazed with awe
And envy at that bull
So they formed a deputation
With the rooster at the head
To ask the bull why he had all the food
And his own luxurious shed
Well the bull explained to the rooster
That he was a top priced stud
And he had to keep his strength up
Or his name would turn to mud
“But you don’t seem like a bad old cock” he said
“Just follow me around
And pick the grain from my droppings
Where I leave them on the ground”
Well the rooster left his mates for dead
And moved in with the bull
And after the passage of three or four weeks
He was fit and fat and full
One Sunday morning at the trough
He gazed at his reflection
And said “My you are a handsome bird
You must be near perfection”
He flew to the top of the farmyard tree
And crowed both loud and long
To let the whole world know that he
Was fit and fat and strong
But the cocky was hungover
His head was aching bad
His bull missed a prize at the Horsham Show
Which made him pretty mad
He stuck his shotgun out the window
And blew the rooster up
There weren’t enough pieces left
To feed his starving pup
Now the moral of this story
And I see no reason to doubt it
If you get to the top of the tree on bullshit
You never want to crow about it!
© – Kevin Magher