There once was a bird, oh shiny, oh bright,
With feathers like sunbeams, a dazzling sight!
“A golden goose!” the people all cried,
“It lays golden eggs! We must stay by its side!”
They gathered around, they reached for the prize,
Not knowing, not seeing, the trick in disguise.
For deep in its heart, this bird wasn’t true
It wasn’t a goose… it was a cuckoo!
A cuckoo is clever, a cuckoo is sly,
It never lays eggs where it must rely.
Instead, it will trick, instead, it will scheme,
And make others work while it chases a dream.
So people all scrambled, they worked night and day,
They built up its nest, they hauled gold away.
They thought they had fortune, they thought they had won,
But the cuckoo just laughed, its job was all done!
For every gold egg that they took with delight,
Was never quite theirs, no, not quite right.
For all of their toil, for all that they gave,
They worked for the cuckoo, like each was a slave.
Then one day a child, so clever, so keen,
Looked up at the bird and said, “This is obscene!”
“Why do we labor? Why do we sweat?
When all that we get is more of this debt?”
And just like a bubble, the spell broke apart,
The people stepped back, they opened their heart.
They saw the old cuckoo, perched up so high,
And finally knew they’d lived in a lie.
The cuckoo just chuckled and flapped its gold wings,
It flew far away to new foolish things.
For always it finds a place it can go,
Where people don’t question the things they don’t know.
So if you see gold and it glitters too bright,
Pause for a moment and check with your sight.
Not all that is golden is truly a gift,
And not every bird has your best interests.
