Lyrics Poor Little Umkolwane - John Edmond

Once a little pair of hornbills
Met in a forest glade
Built a nest in the tree tops
And four eggs they laid
Mother hornbill sat there
Father searched for food
To feed the mother hornbil
Life was kind and good
Poor little Umkolwane
Sitting on her nest alone
Poor little Umkolwane
Nobody else was home
While the mother hornbill sat there
Along came a handsome bird
Said, why do you sit there
To wait there is absurd
Husband he has left you
Now he's flying free
Come and leave your nest now
Fly away with me
Poor little Umkolwane
Sitting on her nest alone
Poor little Umkolwane
Flew down from her home
Home came the father hornbill
Exhausted from his flight
Found his wife was missing
Wondered about her plight
Thought she had been taken
Thought she had been killed
Sat and hatched the eggs out
Duty was fulfilled
Wise old ground hornbills saw that treachery
Warned all other hornbills nest in a hollow tree
Seal your wives in and close them up with clay
Feed them through a small slit so they won't get away
Poor little Umkolwane
Sitting on her nest alone
Poor little Umkolwane
Prisoner in her home