One cool eve in early May,
At the end of a blustery day,
A farmer's wife once said with a sneeze
"I'll take these eggs before they freeze.
Mother duck would be here if she could,
I'll take them home 'cause I think I should."
Darkness was falling and shadows were creeping,
In the henhouse all were sleeping.
All was still and quiet when
She tucked the eggs under a mother hen.

Henrietta woke to a great surprise,
With fine big eggs right before her eyes.
She clucked with pride at the sight,
Thinking she'd laid them during the night.
Decided she was the hen most clever
With eggs the best and biggest ever.
Happily she sat upon that batch
Till at last the eggs began to hatch.
She swelled with pride as open they cracked
And was taken aback when her darlings quacked.

She squawked with surprise as they tumbled free,
What sort of chickens might these be?
What's that stuff between their toes?
And what kind of beaks are those?
The hens all stared, quite amazed
With Henrietta herself quiet and dazed.
Staring at a brood like no other
Henrietta says "I'm still their mother."
She gathers them all under her wings
And to the odd little brood comfort she brings.

The ducklings, not knowing any other,
Thought Henrietta was their mother.
Henrietta watched over them like she should
And for a while life was good.
Till the day they came upon a stream
And Henrietta let out a terrible scream.
As her poor heart fluttered and thumped
The ducklings saw water and in they jumped.
The poor mother squawked like her mind was addled
As the ducklings happily paddled.

As the summer days went by
The growing ducklings began to fly.
As Henrietta's brood changed and grew,
Their doting mother somehow knew
Birds who quacked and swam and flew
Soon would fly into the blue.
When the summer leaves turned gold,
All knew the henhouse couldn't hold
Birds who did such awesome tricks
Who never truly had been chicks.