THE 60th Eurovision Song Contest reaches its finale in Vienna tomorrow.
But I much prefer the kind of singing contest described here to the great pop jamboree.
THE CONTEST
Blackbird and thrush
Work a shift system
On my TV aerial at dusk.
They're running a Eurovision
Song Contest for two.
Which one gets my vote?
Blackie's melody is plangent
And reflective, quite at odds
With the irascible chook
Who clatters in shrubberies
Or suicidally swoops in front
Of cars on country roads.
Thrush is the aristocrat,
Indomitable in dark and cold and wind,
Exhorting all, with endless urgency,
To be, like him, a cheery jo.
Which is the master?
Is speckled breast
A cut above the rest?
Or is golden beak
The vocal peak?
LD
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