I met a boy just like me
He couldn't fledge feathers, had no family
Although he had two legs and human teeth
His eyes were wild like a prairie beast's
We owls are swifter than the children of men
Every week of our lives takes a year for them
By my calculations that made us both eight
I said "aren't you a little short in the beak to migrate?"
Who who
Hatchlings are born helpless and weak
Depending on our parents to help us feed
When something happened that kept my folks away
While struggling on my own, my feather growth was delayed
"Time waits for no one" the elder birds said
And as the nights grew colder my flock flew away
"Time waits for no one" the boy nodded his head
And said a similar thing had happened to him
He said he'd come from a land far away
Which was why he spoke differently than other kids I'd heard play
Described for me a city that was gritty and black
Where the roofs were damp and the gutters had rats
The Society of Waifs and Strays
Had gathered up his gang and shipped them away
From the hunger and the hazards of the dead-end streets
To where the food was plenty and the air was sweet in Canada
Who who
He said: "will you stick by me, can I call you friend?
Though these folks are fine I don't feel like one of them"
I said I would stick by him, as he knelt by my den
I told him all I'd learned of borrowed homes and adapting
Who who
Athene cunicularia, that's my family name
Or burrowing owl as they say on the plains
We're built for flight but we live on the ground
In other creatures burrows which we have found
We cozy them up with twigs and grass
But none of this offers protection if the owner comes back
Gophers are fine, snakes are mean
I think the badger is the deadliest thing that I've seen
But your human situation is worse it seems
You never know what kind of animal they will be
You can't be too quick to call one friend or enemy
Who who
When one is the runt of the litter
Or the new kid on the hectare
You've got to analyse the obstacles and dangers
And then do them one better
Take me for example, I work a bit each day
On my imitation of a rattle snake
The language of one's predator is a handy thing to know
The mastering of it is how I've saved my tail up till now
Life here holds amazing things
Even without a set of parents or a pair of wings
You ask "what can this prairie bring?"
I say "anything, anything, anything"
Oh Canada
Will you stick by me can I call you friend
In this land of grasses as vast as the ocean
If we stick together through thick and through thin
We can forage a future
Two orphans in Canada
Oh Canada