Little Picture of the Woods - Lost Species Day 2024 - Rebecca Jasso

2024 was the 8th Annual Lost Species Day Songwriter Event! We supported Friends of the Forest Preserves and 12 songwriters each wrote a song about an ecosystem. This was my effort. If you missed it and want to donate, please visit: fotfp.org/donate/. On their website, there are also lots of opportunities to volunteer in to Forest Preserves of Cook County. Special thanks to David Sameshima for the video.
Little Picture of the Woods - Rebecca Jasso
The Sun shines down on the Oaks of the Wood
And Trees know how to make their own food
The fruit of the Oak is the wee Acorn
And from this seed is a new tree born
And becomes the home of the lone Gray Squirrel
Who stashes nuts for her sparse winter feed
And fattens up for the layers she’ll need
Alert, she hops from tree to grass
And certain that all danger’s passed
Along comes a Fox, sly Reynardine
Squirrel freezes and listens not moving an inch
Fox pounces before Squirrel can even resist
And Fox takes the quarry to his den
To feed his children, that is when
The Great Horned Owl snatches one of his Kits
And flies up thus, young Fox dead in her grip
Of which the Crow sees and decides he wants it
And pesters Owl till she lets go
But having too much fun, is the Crow
So lands the corpse of the limp fuzzy Kit
Coyote yawns as he wakes from his sleep
Pondering at his fortuitous treat
And savoring every bite he does
The flesh of the animal that was
And burying the parts that he chose not to eat
The Fungus and Earthworm, now they have a go
And slowly breakdown the detritus below
Decomposing into dirt
What once was life and now is earth
To make a place for an acorn to grow