One for sorrow Two for joy Three for a girl Four for a boy Five for silver Six for gold Seven for a secret never to be told
Eight for a wish Nine for a kiss Ten for a chance you must not miss Eleven for a wasp Twelve for a bee Thirteen for a coffee Fourteen for tea
Fifteen for a pencil Sixteen for a pen Seventeen to hear these options once again
Eighteen for pepper Nineteen for salt Twenty for an accident in which you were not at fault
Twenty one for Jerry Twenty two for Tom Twenty three - where are all these magpies coming from?
Twenty five no seriously Thirty this is weird Forty eight from where have all these magpies suddenly appeared?
Sixty two stop counting Seventy just run Ninety nine the revolution of the magpies has begun
Two hundred no more sorrow Five hundred no more fears One thousand for how long the empire of the magpies will last in years
(John Finnemore)
