The Black Packbawky

Title: The Black Packbawky
Date: 2003 (I think!)
Medium: Pen & ink on sketch paper
Description: This is a mean poem against Virge...sort of:

Vurge the Burdman

Chowchilla and galah and crimson rosella
And budgie and wren and emu
Kingfisher, king parrot, and king-size corella
And olive-backed oriole too
From the wee boobook owl to the great guinea fowl
No bird is considered too queer
For the man with the scowl and the quivering jowl
And the melodious-bird-listening ear!

Vurge, Vurge, Vurge the Burdman!
Vurge, Vurge, Vurge the Burdman!
Gathering up every burdie he can
Vurge the Burd-Burd Man!

With the crows at his feet, he sits on the street
Tossing out bread for their greed.
The brolga and goose tend to play it quite loose
Scoffing down each tasty seed.
The black duck's got gloss, but the plumed egret's boss
At the top of the pecking pile he.
E'en the shy albatross ventures in from across
The waves of the wide Coral Sea.

Vurge, Vurge, Vurge the Burdman!
Vurge, Vurge, Vurge the Burdman!
Gathering up every burdie he can
Vurge the Burd-Burd Man!

The pallid cuckoo sits in Vurge's lap too
And sings him a mournful song
He seeks to outdo the bushstone curlew
And the finch from the gay billabong.
The grassbird pecks his ear, and brings him such cheer
That he cries to the cloudless blue sky:
"As long as you're here, O burdies most dear
A happy old Burdman am I!"

Vurge, Vurge, Vurge the Burdman!
Vurge, Vurge, Vurge the Burdman!
Gathering up every burdie he can
Vurge the Burd-Burd Man!

With the gannet and gull, who are ugly and dull
The Burdman is gentle and kind
He strokes, in a lull, the frogmouth's flat skull
Though its croaking unsettles his mind.
Good ol' Vurge never eats any of the rich treats
That flock to him every day.
He just fills their beaks with seedbreads and sweetmeats
Then watches them all fly away.

Vurge, Vurge, Vurge the Burdman!
Vurge, Vurge, Vurge the Burdman!
Gathering up every burdie he can
Vurge the Burd-Burd Man!

Status: Sold.