Numbers
Four and twenty jaybirds sat upon a fence
One and twenty left, but to state in their defence,
A farmer tried to shoot them to have them for his tea
So had to settle for jaybirds only three.
The farmer wasn’t happy and said so to his wife
Which only goes to show you’re not alone with strife.
Six and forty rabbits grazed beneath the sun
Hunters came and shot them and there were thirty-one
Who never got to see their bunny families
They became the haul, the old, the young all died
Taken for to bake into scrummy rabbit pies.
Three and thirty funsters jumped into the water
Where they really shoudn’t oughta
The sharks they had a meat feast
While all the bathers screamed
And the sea turned a deep magenta.
Two and eighty soldiers marched towards the battle
Seen by the High Command as nothing more than cattle
Trudging to the charnel house, following direction,
To satisfy an order from the General to their section.
Four and fifty guests went into the club
Most of them took drugs but kept their cloakroom stubs
They danced like crazy techno nuts
Not knowing that the drugs were cut
Four and forty left, feeling really fried,
Shame about the ten from overdose who died.
Eight and twenty students filed into the room
Most of them a thinking the exam had come too soon
Four and twenty thousand starlings flying in the sky
All of them were happy until one of them did spy
A hungry falcon circling above them
Instantly the flock became a murmuration
Becoming one to save their lives
Countering the raptor, so all the birds survived.
Six and ninety teachers sitting in a hall
Listening to speakers, experts one and all
Passing on good practice; how to uprate marks;
Handle errant students and other such remarks
Six and ninety teachers reaching end of day
Thinking “Oh! my God, there must be a better way?”
One and twenty aircraft on the taxiway
Listening most carefully to what controllers say
People in the cabins looking at the time
Thinking to themselves, it really is a crime
That jets which fly at such a pace
Queue up so slowly at this place.
Three and thirty million voted
To tell their leaders what they wanted
Despite all this and ‘wrong result’
They genuinely wanted to take the UK out.