Jack Starling
Jack Starling wasn’t nasty. Jack starling wasn’t bad,
Jack Starling liked to have a laugh. A real Jack the Lad.
But Jack Starling didn’t like being told what he should do,
Any mention of the rules it was strictly “No Thank You!”
Jack Starling was a rebel he wanted to be free,
Jack Starling thought what’s missing is a bit more anarchy!
Jack Starling felt his flock’s murmuration should be bit more wild,
Old fashioned neat formations were really not his style.
To Jack the birds who led the flock were just a bunch of sad old losers,
Jack felt sure that he could lead them in more interesting manoeuvres.
Jack watched the leaders tired routines and the more that he thought through it.
“It’s not as hard as they make out I reckon I could do it!”
Convinced that many others must share his dissatisfaction,
His mind made up, he made a plan, next night put it into action.
As the starlings whirled and twirled in arial delight,
Jack Starling lurking in the flock judged when the time was right.
As the starlings banked and turned, for a moment losing speed,
He quickly slipped out to the front and boldly took the lead.
From there he led a a perfect curve shooting down, then back up high,
Banking steeply, sudden turns, flashing through the sky.
Jack was in his element - this really was good fun
With a flick of his wings - and a twist of his tail - every bird would turn as one.
All was going really well although a test of nerves,
A super fast performance with last minute swerves and curves.
People stopped and gazed in awe at that night’s murmuration,
Indeed the whole performance drew much excited admiration.
Jack Starling packed a neat routine with death defying swoops,
Breakneck rolls and high speed turns - even Loop de Loops.
Following the leader the starlings started flying faster
Little knowing that before them waited imminent disaster.
If only Jack Starling had remembered pride comes before a fall,
One low turn too many - It was then he saw the wall !
Now the starling only has forward gears. Theres no chance of reverse
And when a starling meets a wall - the starling comes off worse.
Jack Starling now had lost control, the situation couldn’t be recovered,
1000 starlings hit the wall one after another!
That night the starlings gathered, bruised and battered in a tree,
The avian equivalent of the local A & E.
In their roost that evening the starlings looked a sorry sight,
Every starling bore the scars of that evening’s fateful flight.
As they nursed their broken beaks and wings there was but one clear call,
Who was that twat, the bloody prat who nearly killed us all?
Fortunately for Jack the Lad one starling looks like another,
Kept very quiet on his perch and his role was not discovered.
Meanwhile…………………..
News stories soon reported the ornithological aberration.
A wall and starling bust up! What could be the explanation?
As one might imagine there was a lot lot of speculation,
How had a flock of starlings made such a poor miscalculation?
News crews quickly gathered, top opinions were sounded,
Chris Packham and Michaela confessed to be dumfounded.
Scientists were at a loss. Suggested all sorts of causes
Some blamed atmospheric pressure, others acute magnetic forces.
Scholarly opinion though was totally divided,
What had caused the dreadful crash couldn’t be decided.
To the world it remains a mystery, its only us that know,
It was the fault of young Jack Starling - Who’d just thought he’d have a go!
