“STREAM-SIDE EXCHANGE”–JP Clark

Child: River bird, river bird,

Sitting all day long

On hook over grass,

River bird, river bird,

Sing to me a song

Of all that pass

And say,

Will mother come back today?

 

Bird:  You cannot know

And should not bother;

Tide and market come and go

And so shall your mother.

 

The poem focuses on the anxiety of a child. The child is curious about the future and longs to see a picture of it but the bird calms her down by telling her ‘you cannot know and should not bother’. The River there symbolises the continuous flow of activities in life- Things come, things go, ‘tide and market come and go’ so one can never predict the future. the Bird is used to give the advice that no one should worry about the future but just do his best to make the future great.

‘NET Bible
Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God.’